IN front of us are two scenarios. One is the re-emergence of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif as the President of his Party. The second issue is a tweet filled with love in favour of Sheikh Mujeeb-ur-Rahman by the founder of PTI. Between these two events, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has also commented on an important issue. These three events have made our political landscape more interesting and somewhat more complex.
The question is what will Mian Nawaz Sharif do by taking charge of the Muslim League-N? The straightforward answer to this question is that he was unjustly deprived of party leadership. He has regained his right, meaning justice has been served. This is correct, but today, Pakistan’s politics has become even more complex than before. One reason is the introduction of some new faces into politics, among which the founder of PTI is the most prominent. Before entering politics, the former cricketer used to cite examples of western democracy and idealized the era of Caliphate-e-Rashda. Some of these discussions were successful in influencing not only the youth and modern classes but also some religious groups.
This was the theoretical aspect of his politics. The practical aspect was entirely different. He gained power with the full support of the Establishment and, once in power, governed through coercion. He took retaliatory actions against political opponents. There was everything in his financial dealings and style of governance except transparency. He introduced new things, but there were many contradictions between his words and actions. After being deprived of power, this aspect of his politics has become more pronounced.
The most prominent example of this is that these days he and his party are opposing the Establishment. Even while doing so, they don’t hesitate to call it betrayal. On the other hand, the truth is that his interference in politics is still considered correct. The biggest proof of this is that today, he still wants to negotiate with the Establishment instead of the Government. A few months ago, the founder of PTI openly demanded from the former army chief to end the PDM government and bring him back to power. His meeting with General Bajwa in the presidency is just yesterday’s news.
Political parties in the past also played complex politics and adopted complex strategies to confuse opponents, but PTI has left other political parties behind in this matter. It is entirely possible that the party’s-announced position on some matters is different from the reality and the actions are entirely opposite. The question is, will Mian Nawaz Sharif be able to play a role in a completely different environment?
This is not a very old matter when Mian Nawaz Sharif said that I have become ideological politician. It is necessary to understand what kind of ideology he was talking about. To understand Mian Sahib’s idealism, it is necessary to understand the background in which the Charter of Democracy was formulated. At that time, Pakistan’s foremost political parties had decided that ruling through the constitution was unavoidable for the interpretation of the dream of real democracy. This agreement had played an important role in setting Pakistan’s politics in the right direction, but after the emergence of PTI and its founder, the situation changed. The ideological aspect of Mian Nawaz Sharif is in those senses.
The weakest aspect of Pakistani democracy is the extremely disorganized nature of its political parties at the grassroots level. Mian Sahib’s first priority at the moment is to organize his party. Besides Punjab, the N-League has a weaker presence in the other three provinces. The information is that after taking over the party leadership, he will focus on these matters. If this happens, the Muslim League-N will outperform its contemporaries. Another benefit of this will be that the participation of the people in democratic struggle will increase, as in the past, and this progress will enrich national politics. The second answer to this question is that the government and political positions will be separated. Thus, the government’s guidance and oversight can be ensured, which are essential for good governance.
On the occasion of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s election, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his views on the ongoing confrontation in a very enthusiastic manner. This is a very notable thing. In the Prime Minister’s speech on such an important occasion, mentioning this confrontation holds many meanings. Generally, the question was asked, what is the government doing in the rivalry displayed between the Judiciary and the Establishment? From this speech, it seems that the government was concerned with this issue. It was playing some role in this delicate matter in its own way with silence. If that was the case, then the question arises, why did this speech come about? This is a delicate question. When the aspects of complex and delicate matters come to the forefront, it is not necessary that everything can be understood. This means that some kind of activity is going on at various levels on this complex issue, and at this stage, some messaging was necessary.
After the tweet regarding Sheikh Mujeeb, the situation has changed and the issue of loyalty to the country has become complicated because now loyalty to the country will be tested in the backdrop of this tweet. This is why PTI is now expressing detachment from its founder’s tweet.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
