|
|
|
| December 11, 2005 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 8, 1426 |
Sharifs complete five years in exile
LAHORE, Dec 10: Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif and his family complete five years in exile in Saudi Arabia on Saturday (today). They were banished on Dec 10, 2000, as a result of mediation by the Saudi authorities, when Mr Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif were being tried on different charges.
Their fifth year in exile has been better than the earlier four years as there has been some shift in the government’s tough attitude towards them. While countless previous requests for passports to the exiled family were turned down by the power that be, a few weeks ago they were provided with passports — though on humanitarian grounds — after which they can leave the kingdom and stay elsewhere. The Sharif family has already applied for British visas, and the matter is being processed by the relevant British authorities. The issuance of passports to the Sharif family brought a ray of hope to the PML-N, which has already lost many elected and electable leaders to the ruling party. During 2005 even those leaders have changed loyalty who had given undertaking to the twice elected former prime minister that they would stand by him through thick and thin. The party received major setbacks in southern Punjab where all important leaders have joined the ruling PML.
Reports that the Sharifs will soon be moving to London have been quite encouraging for the PML-N leaders and supporters and they say that now the Sharifs are in transit and the day is not far away when they will return to Pakistan.
Political observers say that the party may regain its lost glory only when the Sharifs are back. But in their absence, there is no other leader who can effectively run the party or stop defections.
Unfortunately, a few people who are in the field and can play some role in activating the party or giving the Sharif supporters a message of hope are unable to do so for reasons best known to them. For example, acting president Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a capable leader, has confined himself to Islamabad and is not giving much time to provincial organizations.
Javed Hashmi, who is in a position to mobilize the people, is behind bars and facing cases.
Ahsan Iqbal and Ishaq Dar, two able and energetic leaders, spend most of their time out of the country because of their jobs.
Vice-President Syed Zafar Ali Shah, once a committed leader with unwavering trust in the leadership of Mr Sharif, gives more time to his legal profession than to his party. Punjab President Zulfikar Khosa has been not effectively performing the functions of the provincial president for quite some time because he has more political stakes in Dera Ghazi Khan, where he spends most of his time.
As a result, secretary-general Zaeem Qadri has to discharge all important duties. And being a beginner in politics, he cannot be expected to prepare the party to face the challenges of the time.
Khwaja Saad Rafiq, an active member, has been given no responsibility by the leadership. And whatever he does, he does it on his own initiative. Faisalabad’s Rana Sanaullah Khan is giving a wonderful performance in the Punjab Assembly. But, he has no office in the party. He is confining his role to the provincial legislature, although he feels upset that a party which once enjoyed two thirds majority in parliament is getting weaker by the day.
The party is without a central working committee because of which there is no institution in place which can take decisions to meet the requirements of the prevailing situation.
Raja Zafarul Haq, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Khwaja Asif, Begum Tehmina Daultana, Siddiqul Farooq and some others, though doing their best, are unable to bridge the gap created by the absence of the Sharifs. The situation in other province is even worse than in Punjab. There is a growing realization in the party that the challenges are very serious and the leaders should be activated before they could give any strength to the party.
Some in the party are of the firm view that if Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif cannot return any time soon, they should at least send back Begum Kulsoom Nawaz and Mariam Safdar. The mother and the daughter had shown their capabilities when the former prime minister and the chief minister were behind bars. Party leaders think that Begum Kulsoom and Mariam can breathe a new life into the party if they come back soon.
|
|
|
|
