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Nizami says ailing PM Nawaz inclined to name a successor

May 31, 2016

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Veteran journalist and senior analyst Arif Nizami has said that according to the information available with him, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is inclined to find a successor because of his deteriorating health and the rigors that come with the position of prime minister.

Pakistan Today Editor Nizami in his programme DNA on Channel 24 said that contrary to the ongoing speculations of people it would take Prime Minister Sharif at least five to six weeks before he is able to return home and travel again. He said that doctors won’t be giving him the clearance to travel that early without being sure about his health.

According to Nizami, the matter of Terms of Reference (TORs) may also get delayed because of the health concerns of the premier.

Predicting about Sharif’s possible successors, Nizami said that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has an egotistic and narcissistic personality, while Khawaja Asif isn’t the most cordial person. Similarly, he added, Khawaja Saad Rafique has a fiery personality while Ahsan Iqbal likes to be called a professor and would rather focus on his professorship than to be Sharif’s successor.

When it comes to his brother Shehbaz Sharif, Nizami said, he’s not an MNA and is also busy running Punjab, where he’s the chief minister. Ishaq Dar is not an MNA either, he added.

Nizami said that in his opinion PM Sharif should have followed the model of Asif Ali Zardari, where Zardari was the chief of his party PPP and became the president of the country. Sharif faces a formidable and challenging opponent in Imran Khan, and the rigors of being a prime minister has clearly taken its toll on him, he added.

Nizami also said that during his tenures, Nawaz Sharif always had tense relations with the army chiefs including the incumbent Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif.

“First the Panama Leaks, then the death of Mullah Mansour and now the worsening health of PM Sharif; it makes you wonder that Pakistan is always battling with one crisis after the other,” concluded Nizami.