‘Wazir e Azam or Mughal e Azam’

Choose your poison

Whether Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will brave the storm over Panamagate remains a moot point. But in the meanwhile the government and the opposition are busy drawing battle lines for a final showdown.

After initial dithering it seems the first family, buttressed by senior members of the Sharif team, has decided to go on the offensive. Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of the prime minister and heir apparent, has obviously taken charge.

Ensconced in the prime minister house for over a year now, she has been chairing meetings attended by senior party members and government officials mostly relating to media strategy. But obviously with the passage of time, especially now in a moment of crisis, her role has expanded.

The prime minister – after cancelling all his official engagements – spent a good part of the last week at his palatial Raiwind abode huddled with his core family members. This gave impetus to media speculations that he was contemplating to step down

With Sharif’s sons Hussain and Hassan neither having the inclination nor the aptitude are least interested in active politics. Maryam, the bright light of the family, had been shoed in to fill the vacuum. However being named as the beneficiary of the offshore companies owned by the Sharifs in the Panama papers her brand has been damaged as well.

The prime minister – after cancelling all his official engagements – spent a good part of the last week at his palatial Raiwind abode huddled with his core family members. This gave impetus to media speculations that he was contemplating to step down.

Nonetheless those who know Sharif well know he is not a softie to run away from an impending battle. Later it transpired that he was unwell, suffering from an unexplained heart ailment and on the persuasion of Choudhry Nisar Ali Khan was proceeding to London for treatment.

The prime minister on arrival at his much discussed (and maligned) Park Lane flats in Central London spoke to the media, amply making it clear that after his medical check up he intends to fully resume his responsibilities. Nawaz, while not confirming or denying a meeting with the PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari during his visit, claimed he enjoyed good relations with him.

Might be so. But it seems mostly in the past tense. Zardari is not happy at the manner in which the PML-N leadership abandoned the PPP when the chips were down for them.

Sharif, true to his signature style, according to PPP circles did not lift a finger to bale out Zardari’s close friend and aide Dr Asim Hussain who still languishes in jail. The PPP co-chairperson, at odds with the military establishment, remains in self-imposed exile. The prime minister has been a silent spectator to travails of the PPP leadership.

But Sharif is a lucky man. The PPP, doing no favour to him, does not see this as an opportune time to rock the boat by being a party to derail the democratic process.

Zardari, the grand strategist, knows well that snap elections are not in his party’s larger interest. Chairperson Bilawal, finally deciding to dissolve provincial bodies of the party, is an implicit admission of the reality that the party needs to fix Punjab under a new provincial leadership.

Sharif, instead of making a half-hearted, lackluster address to the nation, should have addressed the parliament. Of course he would have run the risk of facing catcalls of ‘go Nawaz go’. But so what?

 

Secondly, being the main opposition party in the parliament, why would the PPP play second fiddle to the Khan and his shenanigans? It is no surprise that the PPP is neither taking part in the putsch being organised by the PTI against the Sharifs, nor is the party in favour of the prime minister’s resignation.

The PTI chief himself has somewhat backed off from his threat to organise a dharna to block the prime minister’s Raiwind residence if his demands for Sharif’s resignation and setting up a judicial commission headed by the CJP to probe Panama Leaks were not met.

Somewhat climbing down, the Khan now says that he will only use dharna as a last resort. Perhaps he has belatedly realised that unlike 126-day sit in at D-chowk Islamabad, Raiwind will be a logistical nightmare.

The government, on the other hand, has decided to stick to its original decision of forming a commission headed by a retired judge. It has conceded to the demand for appointing forensics financial experts.

But according to a government spokesperson the process to engage a reputed auditing firm will take months. It would involve framing TORs (terms of reference), tendering and selection.

It is obvious that there is a wide gap in what the PTI wants and what actually the government is willing to concede. Legally the Sharifs might be on a sure footing but morally they are on a slippery slope. Take the case of the Park Lane flats. When were they purchased and what was their source of funding still remains unclear.

If our political leadership prefers invest abroad, why should foreigners invest in Pakistan? Similarly, getting medical treatment, educating their children and owning properties abroad, our political elite are not good poster boys for Pakistan. It seems that only the hapless citizenry is condemned to slog it out in their beloved Pakistan while the rulers and their progenies prefer to place all their eggs in greener pastures.

It can be argued that everyone has the right to invest, travel and educate their children in the west if they can afford it. True, to a large extent.

Nonetheless, those elected should be willing to pass greater tests of scrutiny. Unfortunately the present laws are skewed in favour of the privileged ruling elite. All this needs to be changed through stricter legislation and scrutiny hitherto lacking.

Nawaz Sharif is likely to survive this one but his moral authority has been inexorably eroded in the process. The younger Sharif, perhaps made of a different mettle, has come out unscathed from the imbroglio.

However, despite his largely unblemished governance record, his name does not figure anywhere in the succession battle. Obviously he remains outside of the D as the core Sharif family thinks that it is their right to rule.

Interestingly, completely missing from thenarrative is any talk of summoning any party meeting to discuss the Panamagate. Neither the PML-N parliamentary party has met nor has the cabinet meeting been summoned to discuss a grave political crisis emanating from the Leaks.

Sharif, instead of making a half-hearted, lackluster address to the nation, should have addressed the parliament. Of course he would have run the risk of facing catcalls of ‘go Nawaz go’. But so what? If the British prime minister can face a recalcitrant opposition in the House of Commons, why not Sharif too?

As Zardari once said, Sharif’s ruling style is akin to a mughal emperor. He implored with Sharif not to behave like Mughal e Azam (mughal king) but like a Wazir e Azam (prime minister).

But unfortunately most of our political elite believe in a Mughlia style. That is why you see most of them oft running to London on one pretext or the other.