- Irrational expectations?
Good that Shahbaz Sharif put to rest any lingering doubts about some distance between the Sharif brothers. Disqualified or not – especially since the Panama case has raised fresh controversy since Nawaz and Maryam’s bail – the elder brother remains the fountainhead of all advice and wisdom that flows through PML-N. And, sure enough, there were similar rumours in the times of Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Pervez Musharraf, as Shahbaz rightly pointed out, and they don’t seem to have done the party too much long-term damage. But what direction, exactly, is the League going to take going forward, especially since Nawaz is still out of the picture and Shahbaz’s future remains uncertain?
The matter of chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is important. Shahbaz’s threat that in case he, as opposition leader, is denied the spot his party would then opt out of all standing committees of the national assembly does not seem well thought out. If Nawaz does indeed have influence over Shahbaz, he should talk his brother out of such initiatives. Walking away will, eventually, isolate PML-N even further. And considering how opposition parties have been falling all over each other since the election, the less they are at cross purposes the better.
However, talk of a no-confidence motion is even more serious. True, the option is ‘very much constitutional in nature’ as Shahbaz pointed out. But exercising this option would, again, only push the party into a darker corner. No other opposition party would be willing, surely, to participate in what will widely be known in Pakistan as an attempt to disrupt the democratic process. The better option is to let the government get on with its work, for its entire five-year tenure, and indulge in politics of opposition as mandated by the constitution. Considering how the tide is clearly against PML-N, perhaps it’s better to shed irrational expectations and work on solidifying the party as the system runs its course.
