Prime minister’s caretakers

Published July 1, 2016
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

When will the prime minister come back? Will he stay in power until 2018? How strongly will he be able to assert himself as chief executive of the country? These are questions basic to the political discourse in Pakistan right now. There are other debates going on at the same time which are of secondary importance.

The latest information is that the prime minister might return either before or after Eid. Before that, we had learnt through the social media flashes put out by those who were lucky enough to call on him in London that his doctors will decide in early July when he can be allowed to return. Earlier, speculations were that Mian Nawaz Sharif could be forced to prolong his stay in the British capital not by a few days but a few months.

Read: No lavish ‘welcome back’ ceremony, PM tells his party

Quite often, a health bulletin about Mian Sahib is accompanied by a photograph. The picture strives to show him in good health — of course, at the risk of encouraging the incorrigible disbelievers who must from time to time claim that there was no heart operation. They will continue to call it a sham surgery to offset the Panama scandal just as others — the majority shall we say — will continue to face-read the patient for signs of a quick recovery.

The effort that appears to have gone into readying the subject for one of the latest photographs kind of suggests that it will take him a while to get going at some steam, regardless of where he spends the next few weeks — in Islamabad, Lahore or London. A heart surgery is not a minor thing. It will take time and the proxies will have to manage it while the title-holder recuperates. His body must have already felt the pressure when he was pressed too hard into battle in the days leading to the most important operation of his tenure after Waziristan.


Forcing the PM into the service of this nation when he is yet to sufficiently recover would be absolutely cruel.


In the month before Mr Sharif departed for London for surgery, he addressed more meetings and travelled more miles within the country than he had during his last three years in power put together. This was crazy considering the signs. He was rushing around consolidating his defences in the wake of Panama with a weak heart. To force him into the service of this nation when he is yet to sufficiently recover after the treatment would be absolutely cruel.

Titles, assignments, responsibilities come and go. Human life and good health must always take precedence over worldly affairs. The government, the party should be able to take care of themselves somehow.

There will be tensions — unavoidable since we understand that of prime concern here is the health of an individual by the name of Nawaz Sharif. There will be problems for the government, the party and the people involved. The longer the prime minister stays away from Islamabad the louder will be the rumours regarding the likelihood of his government packing up before the 2018 scheduled completion. Any vacuum fuels gossip and theories, as will the absence of Mian Sahib.

There are already voices that claim a grouping and likely possible forward bloc in the PML-N. There’s strong enough evidence — and historical precedent — to indicate that once the talk about a grouping comes to the surface, matters can spiral in any direction.

The issues are serious enough for Ms Maryam Nawaz to have an urgent meeting with a group of ruling party lawmakers and allow them to have the privilege of a hotline to her. This is apparently the boiling over of the sentiment which so many had been talking about routinely.

It had been reported in rather quiet tones because of the absence of a clear set of demands that a large number of PML-N lawmakers were unhappy as they felt ignored — in the big mass of MNAs and MPAs the party has at its disposal.

Still, the choice of leader they went to now for redress was revealing for even the casual onlooker. In what must have come about after some deliberation on the part of Mian Sahib’s caretakers, it is his daughter who is fast gaining prominence as his standby.

Initially, after the departure of the prime minister, Ms Maryam was there fixing a few things to ensure there were no serious hiccups so far as the running of the government was concerned. She had by her side Mr Ishaq Dar to complete the intra-family arrangement to deal with issues during the prime minister’s absence.

This was in addition to her assignment that required her to handle the media and see to it that no great threat was posed to the Sharif image. She would occasionally be seen standing by her father during his visits to Islamabad schools. The hectic task of handling the angry party members, particularly those belonging to central Punjab and its surroundings, was left to her cousin Hamza Shahbaz.

Or at least this was the impression one had of him sitting in Lahore. By the accounts of his accomplishments the son of the chief minister Punjab had earned this reputation. Mr Hamza Sharif did manage to placate disturbed members on many occasions, except for a few instances when the matter was referred to the senior, elder authority, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif or Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Ms Maryam was not troubled by these intra-party affairs.

The incident of an unhappy MNA from Jhang choosing to take the grievances of the unhappy PML-N group to Ms Maryam is bound to be speculated upon. This should in the ultimate analysis nudge the — leadership to come up with some kind of a formal arrangement to square up to everyday challenges — whether the prime minister is present and in charge or on leave. There has to be in place a clear chain of command instead of the current loose family arrangement. Even a family arrangement has to be formalised.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2016

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