Except for his fans
Prime Minister Abbasi is only partly correct when he claims that the fate of the leaders is decided at polling stations and not the courts. In a system working under a constitution and adhering to the rule of law politicians, like ordinary citizens, are punishable if they violate any constitutional provision or law of the land. A politician sentenced by a court may live in the heart of his devotees but can be ousted from politics by the court’s decision. The verdict in the hijacking case nether turned Sharif into a celebrity nor did it generate a sympathy wave for him as was shown by a cold and dismal reception witnessed at Nawaz Sharif’s return from Saudi Arabia in 2007. It took six years of hobnobbing with the powers that be and recruit a bus load of turncoats to win the national election and that too on the basis of Punjab seats. It is therefore unrealistic to claim that a Supreme Court verdict unacceptable to the votaries of a leader is thrown into the wastebasket of history.
There was no spontaneous display of resentment by masses on Sharif’s disqualification. Partly due to the power shortages and partly on account of the shortsighted monetary policies of the PML-N government, exports continued to fall during Sharif’s tenure, leading to full or partial closures of numerous factories causing a hike in unemployment. There was no extraordinary rise in terrorist incidents after his removal either. Nawaz Sharif is simply indulging in vainglory when he says that ‘if terrorism is rearing its head again and unemployment is increasing today, it is the outcome of the July 28 judgment which created chaos in the country.’ Sharif is mightily mistaken if he believes there has been a deluge after him.
The best thing for Sharif to do is to concentrate on removing the cracks within the party and help it prepare for the elections. Let the masses pass a judgment then on the performance of the PML-N about which the court has naturally made no observation.
