- Will the party implode under external pressure and internal divide?
The PML-N government’s tenure ends on May 31. The party faces an existential challenge as the election campaign gains momentum. While it still commands the support of 120 plus parliamentarians, party legislators have continued to drop out albeit at a slow speed. There have been no large scale desertions so far though. Party lawmakers complained at a recent meeting of the PML-N parliamentary committee that they had received threatening calls or were warned of opening of cases against them. Some expressed concern over Nawaz Sharif’s unending confrontation with the establishment and judiciary. A prominent minister currently under investigation reportedly exchanged harsh words with Nawaz Sharif’s political secretary after the meeting. With a neutral caretaker set up in place from June 1, the external pressures could become unbearable for some of the party legislators who have skeletons rattling in their cupboards. Stopping a possible rout constitutes a formidable challenge for the party leadership.
Even more hazardous is the pursuit of two diametrically opposite lines, with Shahbaz Sharif advocating peace with the establishment and judiciary while Nawaz Sharif continuing to defy those who matter and demanding accountability for all. The slogan ‘give respect to the ballot paper’ was conceived as a battle cry to mobilise the masses to overturn the Supreme Court verdict. The doves in the ruling party consider the slogan as yet another affront to the apex court. Will the PML-N fight the elections under one command, on a common programme and an agreed campaign slogan? Shahbaz Sharif has tried to assure the perturbed parliamentarians that the former PM would soon tone down his rhetoric. He also called the person responsible for arranging the Dawn interview as the biggest enemy of the party’s permanent Quaid. Nawaz Sharif on the other hand continues to defiantly stand by whatever he has said. It is difficult to predict under the circumstances whether the center would hold or things fall apart in the PML-N. Unless the party leadership displays statesmanship, of which there is little chance, the possibility of a shipwreck cannot be ruled out.
