Nisar says will quit ministry, parliament after SC verdict; spokesman says otherwise

ISLAMABAD: In a sprawling, yet ultimately misleading speech, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar alluded to having made up his mind to quit not just his portfolio but also his berth in the National Assembly the day the Supreme Court comes out with a verdict on the Panama case.

In his long-awaited press conference at Punjab House, Islamabad, he said, “The day Supreme Court will give its verdict on the Panama leaks, I will resign from the parliament and ministry”; but later, the spokesman of the interior ministry said that Nisar did not mean resignation when he said that he will resign after the SC’s Panama verdict. The ministry issued a clarification that Nisar’s statement regarding resignation was about his earlier decision to take an extreme action, which he had changed after consultations held with close friends.

“I have always been loyal to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Nawaz Sharif and I never had second thoughts about my devotion to the party,” Nisar said, adding that he will not be leaving the party [in the wake of PML-N’s weak position in Panama inquiry] as the party now needs him more than ever.

He said he will not be entertaining any questions as a detailed presser will follow after a few days where we will communicate freely. “I am not angry with the party as I went to National security meeting and cabinet meeting when I was called. I never go to the meeting where I am not invited, that’s the reason I don’t go to the consultations because I was not called there. However, I have been in every meeting for more than 33 years.”

Answering to Sheikh Rasheed’s comments that Nisar had missed the train, he said since the start of my political career, I have been loyal to the party.

Rejecting certain claims aired on media about Nisar’s relation to the army, he said that he has never compromised the position of his party in pursuit of creating space for himself. He also claimed he has never spoken ill of the party leadership in front of any army officer. However, I am still proud of my army background, he added.

Pointing out that he was one of the most senior members of the party, he asked, “Why was I left out of the meetings where high-level consultations were made?”

“The political rivals inside the party have levelled the same accusation against me since 1985,” he added. However, he said that they have built the party brick by brick alongside Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Adding further, he said that I had planned to announce a major decision on Monday, perhaps the one the media was speculating about; however, not today. “I have been the devil’s advocate to Mian Nawaz Sharif since the last 33 years,” he added. However, he also remarked that he never went public about it.

He pointed out that it was not incumbent upon him to praise Mian Nawaz Sharif’s every speech and every point of action. Hence, he was always openly telling Sharif whenever he had gone wrong. “I am not a hypocrite,” he asserted.

Sources in the government claim that Chaudhry Nisar, however, has lost the trust of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as he has tried to breach his trust by playing ‘dirty tricks’ in most trying times in the PM’s political career. “Nisar has been trying to create a false impression that he is angry with PM. The matter of the fact is that he has been sidelined by the PM. Actually, Nisar was sidelined after he put precondition to Maryam Nawaz’s rise to the political landscape, saying that she needs to first work as MNA for five years and later she may take over the leadership role,” a source said on the condition of anonymity.

Secondly, Nisar has always tried to create an impression that he is a bridge between the military and civilian leadership. “This is exactly what he said to the army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in his maiden meeting. Gen Bajwa, who is on very good terms with the prime minister, needs no assistance and if anything has to be discussed, Shehbaz Sharif is a better mediator for the army,” the sources concluded.