IN separate interviews to different channels, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has recounted achievements of his coalition government during the last sixteen months, talked about the cooperative engagement of the military in running affairs of the state, implications of the cipher issue and possible return home of former Prime Minister and PML(N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif in September. The Prime Minister thanked his coalition partners and the Pakistan Army for their consistent support that helped the government successfully bring Pakistan back from the brink of an economic disaster.
The economic conditions of the country are still not enviable but one has to give credit to the Shehbaz-led government for averting a serious crisis and paving the way for growth and stability. This is not a mean achievement as the government not only inherited menacing economic challenges because of irresponsible policies of the PTI regime but also faced the wrath of ferocious floods and continuous political instability. Apart from its contribution in putting the economy back on track, the government also tried its level best to promote political stability, offering goodwill gestures towards the political opposition. True to his reputation of being a firm advocate of reconciliation, Shehbaz Sharif repeatedly offered talks to the opposition PTI but these were not responded to in the same spirit. Latest statements of former stalwarts of the PTI also suggest that the government was even ready to go for early polls but an agreement could not be reached due to somersaults by the PTI chief. Now that the former Prime Minister has landed in jail after a judicial process, Shehbaz Sharif has expressed unhappiness over his imprisonment, advising him to be cautious with his words. It is also a matter of record that the government faced difficulties due to conflict of interests among the coalition partners but the credit goes to the leadership qualities of Shehbaz Sharif to keep the coalition intact till the last moment. The nature of the problems and challenges confronting Pakistan demands a spirit of accommodation among different political players to overcome them successfully. As for Nawaz, the PM understandably did not give an exact date but asserted that he will be back in Pakistan in September to lead the party in elections. It has already been made clear by Shehbaz Sharif that Nawaz Sharif would head the next government in case PML(N) gets an electoral victory. However, there are legal and constitutional hithces in the way of return and assumption of power by Nawaz Sharif and it has to be seen how these are to be addressed. The cipher issue is once again in the limelight due to publication of the contents of the diplomatic cable by a foreign media outlet. The remarks of the PM that if the contents of the message are published in an international newspaper and prove to be true, it would indeed be a ‘massive crime’ refer to the sensitivity of the issue, indicating that those behind its leakage could face the music. The cipher issue dominated the political scene during the time when the National Assembly was handling the vote of no-confidence against the then Prime Minister Imran Khan, when attempts were made to create an impression of a foreign-based conspiracy to dislodge the government, a charge which could not be proved or substantiated by the subsequent events. The Prime Minister has raised logical questions on different aspects of the cipher issue. He pointed out that the PTI Chairman offered various reasons for his government’s downfall. However, none of them seem logical, as his removal wasn’t due to his efforts to build relationships with Russia and other nations. If that were the case, why would Russia provide us with oil?” he questioned. Pakistan’s neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and the hurdles it faced in securing the IMF bailout package also belie the stand adopted by the PTI leadership on the cipher issue. It has been reported that the JIT probing the cipher issue is nearing the conclusion of its findings but it has now expanded its scope to probe publication of its contents in an online American organization. We hope that the JIT findings would be made public to settle the controversy once for all.
