Sharifs to woo Punjab governor with federal cabinet post

Sources say Sarwar is unhappy with Sharif brothers’ ‘autocratic’ mindset and believes he is unable to serve the masses as governor

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would hold a make-or-break meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar today (Monday) in a bid to convince him to join the federal cabinet, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Despite repeated contacts, the PM’s office did not confirm that a meeting was scheduled between the premier and Sarwar.

However, a source privy to the development said that Sarwar, during his recent meeting with the PM, had informed Sharif about his decision to resign from the governor’s office as he was unable to take any practical decision to helping the poor and deprived.

“During the last meeting, Sarwar had informed the PM that he would wait for the sit-ins in Islamabad to be over before resigning as he did not want to resign while the government was facing a trying time. Now he thinks that the crisis is over and that he should resign soon,” the source added.

In recent media talks, Sarwar had said that he had renounced his British nationality to serve the people of Pakistan but the office of governor was superficial and he could not do anything for the people of Pakistan.

Another source in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government said that Sarwar had planned a huge investment in Pakistan from Britain and had also urged former British PM Gordon Brown to help him in the cause to empower the people of Pakistan.

“Brown visited Pakistan twice in order to meet the PM to seek some reassurances and facilitation for the investment but the meeting could not take place as the PM’s Office did not cooperate in scheduling the meeting. This left Sarwar high and dry as his dream could not be materialised,” the source said.

The situation worsened, said the source, when the Punjab governor was approached by some British citizens of Pakistani origin who wanted possession of their assets in Pakistan which had been illegally taken over by the influential land mafia.

“Shahbaz Sharif did not cooperate with the governor. Thus, the dejected governor started thinking about quitting his office,” the source added.

The source said that the final blow came when Sarwar was approached by the PM to be a part of the dialogue process with leaders of the anti-government protest sit-ins – Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

“Sarwar wanted to play his role in defusing tensions but was not given authority to make decisions which further frustrated him,” said the source.

“Sarwar is unhappy with the autocratic mindset of the Sharif brothers. Therefore he wants to resign as governor and enter practical politics,” the source added.

The source added that Sarwar was greatly impressed by PTI and PAT chiefs and wanted to join either of them.

“Both the parties are riding a popular wave. Therefore, Sarwar wants to join either of them so that he may be better accommodated in any future set up. Moreover, there are possibilities of his role in any caretaker setup where he would be able take executive decisions and better serve the masses,” the source added.

The Sharif brothers are now expected to make one last effort to convince Sarwar to remain a part of the PML-N government and withdraw his resignation, the source added.

“The Sharif brothers have already conveyed to Sarwar to review his decision to resign. The premier has even asked Sarwar to join the federal cabinet as minister for overseas Pakistanis if he is unhappy with Shahbaz. This slot would help him serve the Pakistani expatriates,” the source added.

However, the source said, Sarwar is unlikely to budge from his stance as he has planned his future course of action.