ISLAMABAD: Following his decision to reach out to the masses, directly or through elected representatives, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday gave individual audience to a little known communication minister and three ruling party members of the national assembly (MNAs) at his office.

For the past three consecutive days, the prime minister has been hosting party lawmakers at his otherwise inaccessible office where they talked about development projects in their respective constituencies.

For the media wing of the prime minister office, however, his decision to separately meet party lawmakers on a regular basis has nothing to do with the aftermath of the Panama Paper leaks. An aide to the prime minister, involved in scheduling these meetings, said there had been constant requests by the party MNAs to see the prime minister.

However, due to the PM’s busy schedule “we find it difficult to work out.” Yes, the issue had been streamlined and the prime minister would continue to hold one-to-one sittings with party lawmakers in coming days and weeks, said the aide.

A lack of access to the members of the federal cabinet, what to talk about the prime minister, has been a common grievance among the backbenchers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). And their grumble perfectly makes sense because unlike other political parties, the PML-N doesn’t hold parliamentary party meetings, where they can express their concerns, nor does the PM like coming to the proceedings of the two houses of the parliament, another possible forum of their interaction with the premier.

Insisting that the increased interaction of the prime minister got under way some fortnight before the Panamagate hit the headlines, the aide said parliamentarians belonging to the PML-N were invited to the prime minister office in March also to discuss their constituency-specific issues with the prime minister. About the selection criterion for the party MNAs for one-to-one meeting with the PM, the aide said the prime minister was provided the list of MNAs and the prime minister himself then decided names. “In my understanding, for everyday meetings, MNAs are chosen from different regions,” remarked the official.

But the fact remains, the prime minister during the federal cabinet meeting earlier this week specially directed his ministers to enhance their interaction with constituents. At the same, the prime minister himself has worked out a series of public rallies which he will be addressing within the next few weeks. Across the board, independent observers are of the opinion that PM’s mass-contact campaign is primarily to counter opposition parties increasing demand of his and his family’s accountability in the background of the Panama Paper leaks.

Whether these meetings are the result of pressure of the Panama leaks which apparently the PM and his government are feeling, or a pre-planned strategy of the ruling PML-N, it’s like a dream come true for the MNAs such as Mohammad Irfan Dogar (NA-134) from Sheikhupura district.

A not well-known legislator in the party famous for having fire-brand speakers, who, each one of them can carry the day at their own, Mr Dogar over the past three years has hardly spoken on the floor of the house, but he was given more than 20 minutes by the prime minister. “It is one-to-one encounter and the post-meeting gleeful Mr Dogar expressed his satisfaction over the outcome,” commented another official at PM office. It was the first-ever meeting of Mr Dogar with the prime minister at his office since the 2013 general elections, said the official.

Others lawmakers who called upon the prime minister on Friday included Mian Najeebuddin Awaisi of Bahawalpur and Alam Dad Laleka of Bahawalnagar.

State minister for communication Abdul Hakeem Baloch, little known PML-N lawmaker from Karachi, also met the prime minister. The state minister’s meeting was also part of the plan whereby the prime minister was reaching out to the party lawmakers.

Earlier, party lawmakers Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, Nadeem Abbas Rabaira and Malik Ibrar Ahmad had separately held meetings with the prime minister on Wednesday while MNAs Azhar Qayyum Nahra and Rana Mohammad Hayat Khan called on him on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2016