- Counting chickens before they are hatched
Nawaz Sharif returned from London quietly on Saturday and preferred not to talk to media. Sharif’s close adviser Pervaiz Rashid has meanwhile provided a glimpse into what the PML-N chief intends to achieve in coming weeks and months. Sharif is supposedly to launch a movement aimed at securing an overwhelming majority in the next elections following which he would go for reforms in the Constitution for determining the limits of other state institutions. According to Pervaiz Rashid, Sharif does not need to enter into a competition with Imran Khan in holding public rallies. Being confident of the party’s strong organisational structure, he believes 45 days of electioneering would be enough to achieve the objective.
What Sharif forgets is that he faces stiff competition from other political parties especially from the PPP and MQM in Sindh and Imran Khan in Punjab. Meanwhile the PML-N is not as united as it was in 2013. A number of party lawmakers from South Punjab expressed reservations about Sharif’s support for a law to remove the barrier on his assuming the office of party president and failed to turn up to vote for the law. The party leadership first threatened action against all of them but then expelled only two for fear of desertions. Attempts to reach out to PPP have so far failed to produce desired results. The price reportedly being asked in return for cooperation is exorbitant in the eyes of the PML-N leadership.
What is even more dangerous is Sharif’s failure to bridge the divide and remove the prevailing distrust within the family. After the closure of the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reference the sword of Damocles hanging over Shahbaz Sharif’s head was removed. It was widely understood that the younger brother would now be declared as the PML-N’s candidate for premiership and asked to take over the election campaign. It appears from Pervaiz Rashid’s remarks that Nawaz Sharif will himself lead the campaign and decide after the elections who will be the PML-N’s nominee for the slot of the prime minister.