It seems the last straw has finally arrived. The proverbial final nail in the coffin. The closing of door. The parting of ways. Mian Shehbaz Sharif has finally laid down a definitive word on Chaudhry Nisar, saying he no longer enjoys friendly relations with the disgruntled former Interior Minister. Does it seem a little late? It does considering someone as infuriatingly indecisive and cryptic as Chaudhry Nisar decided to make a clean break before Mian Shehbaz did. According to reports, the younger Sharif was until very recently suggesting that even if Nisar didn’t accept a party ticket, no candidate be fielded against him by the league. That was clearly overturned by Mian Nawaz, and rightly so given how venomous Nisar has been getting.
Speaking of Nisar, he has announced that he won’t bow before anyone and that he is the only leader in the country right now thinking about Pakistan and not about playing their own games. One would hope that the decision not to bow before anyone is a firm one, after all, none of us would want to see his famously fragile back see too much action.
That Mian Shehbaz is now looking in sync with his elder brother over in London is good for the League.
Especially since they are currently being ambushed from all corners. In South Punjab, a number of candidates returned their tickets to undermine the League. It’s interesting, the election symbol that the Dreshaks and Gorchanis have gotten after returning the League tickets is that of a jeep, the same one Chaudhry Nisar was allotted.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan is on a mission to sweep up as many turncoats as he can before election day.
Apparently, the former PML-N leader Abdul Ghafoor Mayo, who has spent a good three decades with the League, didn’t even have half a leg out of the Lahore Press Club when Imran rang him up and asked him to jump ship to the PTI. Mayo didn’t commit, but a comfortable spot awaits him over at the PTI. Time Magazine has said that Imran is currently riding a wave of popular support. True, he will probably do better this time around than in 2013 at the expense of the League. Would be embarrassing for the powers that be if he didn’t. But popular support or not, Imran is on a hunt for electables. He really really wants to win this one.
PIR POWER:
Pirs are working wonders for Imran Khan. According to a recent report, the support of the Pir of Golra Sharif in Islamabad will be pivotal in the NA 54 constituency PTI leader Asad Umar is contesting from.
Another Pir, who also happens to be Imran’s wife, solved the problem of disgruntled women workers who didn’t get tickets. As uncomfortable as he may get with the unorthodoxy of the Pir system, he’ll stay mum and follow on as long as it keeps working. After all, he really really wants to win this one.