- But where does the party go from here?
Thousands of PML-N workers put up an impressive show as they saw off their leader Nawaz Sharif to Kot Lakhpat Jail. As party Vice President Maryam Nawaz tweeted,” it took four hours to drive from Jati Umra to jail, a distance normally covered in thirty minutes.”
Whatever the PML-N decides in days to come is finally to be determined by the elder Sharif. His options are however limited. Presently the party chief is undergoing a seven-year sentence awarded by an accountability court. He is fighting a legal battle and much will depend on the outcome of his appeal being heard by a two member bench of the IHC. In case he is exonerated, it would become easier for him to get his name removed from the ECL so he could go abroad for medical treatment.
The PML-N being the main opposition party in the National Assembly and Shehbaz Sharif enjoying the status of the Leader of Opposition, the party’s parliamentarians are expected to mercilessly expose the flaws in the government’s policies and its working. The unnecessarily aggressive attitude of those on the Treasury benches provides little hope of the level of tension currently prevailing in Parliament coming down. The restructuring of the PML-N on Friday indicates that the party is prepared now to take on the government. With Nawaz Sharif in jail, a number of important leaders facing trials and NAB conducting enquiries against others, the tone of the party is going to become harsher. There are already voices in the PML-N demanding fresh elections.
Will the PML-N opt for agitation to bring about regime change? This will require a family member like Maryum Nawaz to rouse the party workers and mobilise the masses. There would also be a need for a nod from the establishment to go ahead. While the PTI’s abysmal performance must be irking the establishment, it may not be easy to change horses in midstream. While the departure of Shahbaz Sharif for London is being interpreted by some as a sign of some sort of initial bonhomie between the establishment and the PML-N, it could be no more than a signal to the PTI to improve its performance, pronto.