ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, whose differences with his party leadership have been the subject of intense speculation over the past couple of weeks, revealed on Wednesday that he had been excluded from the consultative process on Panamagate case following an internal party meeting.

A team of senior leaders from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) met him on Wednesday, in a bid to persuade the senior minster not to go public with internal party differences. The team included Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

Sources told Dawn that the trio asked Chaudhry Nisar to call off plans to hold a press conference on “political issues”, an intention he announced during an interaction with the media on Monday.

Insiders say that during the meeting, the interior minister continued to insist that certain outstanding issues needed to be explained and clarified.

The thrust of the PML-N leaders’ argument was that differences within the party should only be discussed and addressed within the party.

Shahbaz, Dar, Saad trying to persuade interior minister not to go public with his grievances

But like clockwork, the minister’s spokesperson issued a statement on Wednesday night to dispel the impression that Chaudhry Nisar was “unhappy” and that efforts were being made to “win him over”.

“The fact is that the interior minister adopted a stance on certain key issues during the internal party meeting, after which he was left out of the entire consultative process,” the statement said, in unequivocal terms.

“The minister wants to know why this happened, and whether [he was excluded] on the basis of the stance he adopted in the party meeting or for some other reason. Until these matters are clarified, it would be difficult to resolve the issue amicably,” the statement concluded.

Sources privy to developments said the three men were expected to hold another meeting with the interior minister today (Thursday). They said efforts were also under way to arrange a meeting between the interior minister and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when the latter returns from his trip to Maldives.

When contacted, PML-N Senator retired Gen Abdul Qayyum confirmed that the interior minister had expressed certain reservations during the cabinet meeting held on July 13. He said Chaudhry Nisar is a seasoned politician and an experienced lawmaker, adding that his reservations should be taken seriously.

However, the senator was of the opinion that at a time when the country was facing numerous internal and external challenges, no step that weakened national unity should be taken.

Gen Qayyum stressed that the judiciary and other national institutions must be respected, as the strength of these institutions and the rule of law were the only things that could ensure the country’s survival.

Responding to a query, he said that a mature politician such as Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would never take any such step that weakened the ruling PML-N and harmed national interests.

This is the first time the minister has publicly admitted he had any differences with the party.

While many members of the cabinet were issuing vociferous statements against the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the Panama Papers case, the interior minister had chosen to remain silent on the issue.

However, a slew of rebuttals and clarifications flowed from his spokesperson’s office, advising the rumour mills to stop churning out baseless reports regarding a disagreement between him and other party leaders.

A contradiction was issued about remarks attributed to him during a PML-N parliamentary party meeting by a TV channel. “It is inappropriate and against journalistic norms to put words never uttered by him in the mouth of the interior minister,” a statement issued by the interior ministry had said.

The guesswork, however, continued and his reported remarks in the cabinet meeting became a hot topic of discussion on TV talk shows. Again, on July 14, another statement from the minister’s office said there had been no bitterness during the cabinet meeting, nor did Chaudhry Nisar walk out of the huddle.

Then, on July 15, the interior minister disputed Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s account of remarks attributed to him (Nisar) from the cabinet meeting.

The minister had announced his intention to hold a tell-all press conference last Sunday, but postponed it after coming down with sever backache. The next day, in full view of the media, he once again indefinitely postponed his “political remarks” in the wake of the Lahore bombing, but made it clear that he was not cancelling the presser.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2017