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- Punjab minister Sarwar concedes most party members are ‘confused’
- Lalika says MPAs never demanded or discussed Nawaz’s replacement with Shahbaz
- Sheikh Rashid predicts over 70 PML-N lawmakers will cut and run
LAHORE/RAWALPINDI: A day after a senior PML-N legislator criticised the election of a disqualified Nawaz Sharif as the party head and suggested Shahbaz Sharif lead the ruling Muslim League instead, more people on Friday appeared to be willing to embrace the idea.
Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada told reporters at the National Press Club in Islamabad on Thursday that Shahbaz Sharif should lead the party — apparently since Nawaz Sharif was facing trial in corruption cases.
Editorial: Nawaz or Shahbaz?
Differences between the two brothers and their heirs apparent — Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shahbaz — became public knowledge when Hamza chose to air his concerns before media after he and his father failed to dissuade the elder Sharif and his daughter from adopting a policy of confrontation with institutions, particularly after the Supreme Court announced its verdict in the Panama Papers case ousting Nawaz Sharif from office.
Now it appears that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been cementing his position for an impending behind-the-scenes battle aimed at taking up the reins of the party, as he met long-time friend former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday to discuss party affairs with him.
And one of the Punjab cabinet members, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, conceded that the party lacked a clear direction and most of its members “are confused”.
The meeting between Chaudhry Nisar and Shahbaz Sharif was being seen as of great importance since both have been on the same page since the Panama Papers controversy emerged.
“Both want Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to avoid a clash with the army and the judiciary and face accountability without much complaint,” a PML-N leader said.
A close aide to Nawaz Sharif said that even if the court had restrained the former premier from holding the office of the party president the post might not have been given to Shahbaz Sharif on a platter.
“Do not rule out Maryam Nawaz’s chances to don the cap of the party president in such a scenario,” he said, adding that Shahbaz Sharif’s role would remain confined to Punjab even after the next general elections.
In a related development on Friday, Railways Minister Saad Rafique telephoned Mr Pirzada and asked him about his proposal to replace Nawaz Sharif with his brother.
“I told him [Saad Rafique] that what I had said is in the best interest of the party,” Mr Pirzada said.
There were, however, some PML-N politicians who remained unconvinced.
Minister of State for Interior Affairs Talal Chaudhry said there could be a difference of opinion in the party but “there is one leader in the PML-N and he is Nawaz Sharif”.
Had anyone asked Shahbaz Sharif if he was interested in becoming the president of the party, he raised the question.
“Similar ideas were floated during the Musharraf regime,” Mr Chaudhry said, adding that after Nawaz Sharif, his brother was the most senior leader in the party and he was always there to rescue the party when such a time came.
‘Lost’ lawmakers meet
The situation has left the party’s parliamentarians worried. They want Nawaz Sharif to give them a ‘clear road map’ going into 2018 elections and tell them who will lead them in the election campaign.
They are having meetings in groups to share their growing concern about the future of the party and its direction.
In background interviews, some PML-N legislators said it was the time both brothers (Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif) sat with the party men and told them how they would go into 2018 — with confrontation mode with the judiciary and the army or the party’s development agenda. Besides, who will lead the party in the election campaign when Nawaz Sharif and his children are facing the graft cases.
A few of the PML-N lawmakers endorsed Riaz Pirzada’s criticism of the election of the party head and termed his proposal to replace Nawaz Sharif with his brother a ‘workable solution’.
“At the moment most of us (parliamentarians) are confused and want Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif to have a sitting with us to give us a clear direction leading to next year’s election,” Punjab Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar told Dawn.
Mr Sarwar has recently attended a meeting of a group of over two-dozen MPAs, mostly from south Punjab, in Lahore in which the proposal of either forming a forward bloc to negotiate better terms with the Sharifs ahead of election or backing Shahbaz Sharif as party president was reportedly discussed.
Answering a question, Mr Sarwar laughed off at the idea of forward bloc in the PML-N, particularly in Punjab, and clarified that he and some 20 MPAs were invited by MPA Shaukat Lalika at his residence, where they discussed growing unrest in the party because of having no ‘future’ direction.
“Similarly whenever the party legislators meet these days they discuss the same things,” Mr Sarwar said and added that Nawaz Sharif on his return next week would be requested to give them time and decide the future action plan.
“So far the idea of replacing Mian sahib with Shahbaz Sharif is a non-issue in the party. Nawaz Sharif is important for us and he has vote bank. But the party men want to know how to move forward,” he said.
Mr Lalika told Dawn that he had hosted dinner for his uncle, Ashfaq Sarwar, who recently performed Haj. “I also invited about three dozen other party MPAs to the feast. We discussed the party matters and the coming election.”
He said the party was united under the Sharif brothers. “We never demanded or discussed replacement of Mian sahib with Shahbaz Sharif,” he said.
Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan said: “There has been consensus in the PML-N that Mian sahib should remain the party president as it is united under his leadership. The whole politics of the party revolves around him. However, it is the advice of the pragmatists to the party president to restrain the hawks to neutralise the “PML-N G.T. Road political discourse and NA-120 by-poll campaign’s strategy of confrontation. There should be no confrontation with institutions”.
About the concerns of the party legislators, Mr Ahmad said: “Our party men want elections. Confrontational path may delay elections, they fear. And at the same time if they are not told about who will be candidate for the office of prime minister after the 2018 election, at least they should be told who will lead the election campaign,” he said.
Sheikh Rasheed foresees end of ‘Sharif politics’
Meanwhile, Awami Muslim League (AML) president Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has predicted that the PML-N is a divided house and its parliamentarians will leave the “Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif” in the coming days.
“Earlier, I said 40 parliamentarians are ready to leave the party but now I am sure that more than 70 will do so, including Prime Minister [Shahid Khaqan] Abbasi, Chaudhry Nisar and Saad Rafique,” the AML chief claimed at a public meeting outside his residence Lal Haveli in Rawalpindi.
The gathering was held to protest against the government for “trying to bring changes in Khatm-i-Nabuwwat laws”.
Sheikh Rasheed said, “Next three months are very crucial for Pakistani politics and before March all the corrupt and the ruling elite of PML-N will be kicked out.”
He said the politics of the Sharif family would come to an end the day when the Hudaibya Paper Mills case, which pertains to the “mother of all crime”, would open.
Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2017
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Comments (66) Closed
PMLN is not an ideological party so it is bound to disintegrate in trying circumstances.
House of Sharifs is falling at last.
As a strong supporter of democratic process, I fully support PMLN, and even PPP (even though they might not be supporting each other). Out of many reasons to support them, the main reason being that they are the largest and strongest publicly elected party in Pakistan's history. If anyone can stop the cycle of 70 year old dictatorship in this country it's them. Corruption charges aside, no military dictator should have the power to over-through a publicly elected official. Whether a politician did good or bad should be decided by the public not the military dictator. Qamar Javed has used Pak Armed Forces for his political influence and should apologize the public of Pakistan. In an ideal scenario, he should even resign from his position and let someone honest to take his place who is not power hungry. So that Pak forces can utilize their potential against outsider threats (which are many) instead of wasting their time into civil politics.
And as for the "family feud" thing, the brothers should stick together, both for the benefit of the country AND themselves.
No doubt about it. Titanic is sinking
Information overload.
So its not only the people of Pakistan in the dark, even the PML-N as a party, most of the workers and leaders have no direction, no idea who will lead the party. That sounds about right.
Truth is, fall of every parise ahead. Doesn't matter how time ia taken
Why it has to be one of Shrief's family to lead the party? Are other members are imbecile? There are many intelligent members who can lead but if the Shriefs will let them. All about money and control. This is not a party of democracy.
Where ever merit is discarded it is bound to hit back and this is what is happening with PMLN. This was and is party of hegemons and the ultimate result can be seen now
We need new people with new thoughts who can do some solid measures in support of common people. Wake up peopleand give a end to family political
Common Pakistanis, Its time to change. Oust these corrupts from your country for once.
I'm think Shabaz would be a more capable PM.
A clean person should lead PML(N).
Divide and rule but knights are not meant to be king
Is Shahbaz Sharif an angle? The responsibility should go to the senior most member of the PML(N).
Nawaz Sharif is the only person in Pakistan who will devour everything to save himself, his party, his family and most of all, Pakistan.
Shahbaz Shareef was always the maverick behind the scenes. It's time he came out from behind the curtain and took the reins in his hands. He is a sincere hard working leader who has done a lot of good in Punjab. He can lead and has a team which can turn around Pakistan economically. Most importantly, he is known to be on good terms with many in the establishment which is a good thing. The contry cannot afford confrontation between the institutions. It's quite clear now that Nawaz Shareef and daughter are in it for personal reasons, a vendetta which the party or the country cannot afford.He should face the courts and take what the courts decide. His innings is over The sooner Shahbaz comes to the fore the better for the disillusioned law makers and better for the country too.
So this is the same Sheikh Rashid that during the Dharana said 35 MPs from PMLN will leave, what happened? Don't cry wolf 24-7 get very boring in the end and nobody believes you! Its all an act to give other parties an idea there are divisions! Shabaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif are very clever politicians and there is absolutely no division just giving g the media something to report!!
I think it's imran khans turn to be the next prime minister of Pakistan..a sincere honest guy who has dedicated most of his life to the service of his country.. Got to better than the alternative..my 2 cent
Is it a political party or monarchy...is NS and his family can only be the party chairman...if they dont have democracy in their own rank and file wonder what kind of democracy we will have in our own country...it is us to be blamed after all .. The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. Good luck Pakistan...
i hope he doesnt become our Chief Justice of Supereme Court
The Opportunists, Corrupt and Darbaris will all be exposed soon.
@Ali : What Titanic? It was a gas balloon inflated with the blessings of some quarters.
What bind? There is no confusion at all. It should have taken place years ago. Unfortunately, we are a nation of toadies and boot-lickers and are afraid to take a step in the right direction. Like NA-120 who openly elected a disqualified person just shows the quality of people. Salams
Any article that is based on Sheikh Rashid predictions has no credibility. Enough of these his predictions. One in a million can come true for any individual. We should stop promoting individuals who are responsible for chaos in the country.
Please don't forget innocent victims of Lahore Model Town Massacre. It is all written in Justice Baqar Najafi's report which is not being released by PML-N government.
@Dr. Salahuddin Khan If Shahbaz Sharif had votebank behind him he would have done it long time ago. SS knows that without NS he would not get 10 seats. So he is playing behind the scenes. Hamza and SS know their aukat. They want NS support and campaign in elections bit don’t want him as president of party.
After every climax, there is anti-climax.
Why yet another Sharif. Don't they have anyone out of family?
@Neel : Are you kidding?
Turn coats ready to switch sides where the wind blows!
A logical transition in any dynastic rule. Conceive, plot and take over the reign.
Now that the CJ of the LHC has indicated that its all right if a criminal or defaulter heads a Political Party ( amazing ) ....... this argument as to who heads the PML-N should stop.
Makes no difference which Sharif is the leader of the party or the PM of the nation. They are all damaged goods as far as I am concerned. The entire family deserves to be disqualiied and thrown in jail for a long time.
If Judiciary and accountability courts function as per law without interference and without unlawful influence, the country shall be then free from the clutches of Sharifs, Bhutto-Zardaris, the Chaudrys, Wali khans etc. If the Hudaibya Paper Mills case is expedited for conclusion as per the instructions of the Supreme Court, it shall remove the entire family including the current Punjab CM and his son from the political scene forever. All political parties in Pakistan are associations of opportunists being led by designated personality-centric families. These parties are not institutions by any definition. No party therefore can stay alive without the "owner" family persona because it is opportunism which binds them together and not any national service ideology.
@Prateik "A clean person should lead PML(N)." There is no PLMN without N, clean or not.
Neither! Shariff = hard core financial corruption, Shabaz = responsible for model town deaths & background corruption
Sheikh Rasheed and his "next three months are crucial."
He should just trademark the term.
PML-N Former Disqualified PM Nawaz Sharif is make cause himself to destroy either our beloved country of Pakistan as well as his party....just for the own sake ..shame , shame and shame.....
When the ship starts sinking, rats are the first to abandon it.
It makes me cringe when I hear mature politicians from PML-N or PPP singing praises of their respective leaders as if they are model citizens with examplary leadership qualities. Being a glaring sycophant is the most degrading of all humlran human behaviours. Any self-respecting man or woman should do their best to avoid being perceived in this way. It is a test of your own integrity as person. Why so many public figures indulge in this degrading behaviour is beyond me.
Institutions should not interfere in democracy and create situation where politicians are blamed but not overstepping the jurisdiction of institutions. This is sad for democracy.
Love Nawaz Sharif's anti establishment idealogy. Shahbaz is only for Lahore while Nawaz for Pakistan politics.
Shahbaz is the deserving candidate for PML-N. If Nawaz prefer him over his selfish interests (Maryam), then this will be a clear indication that he’s not sincere to Pakistan’s people and his party!
After all looting the corrupt money, they suddenly woke up. They actually seeing their own graves i guess.
@Dr. Salahuddin Khan But Shahbaz too will be facing the courts soon.
@Sarmad Farooq Exactly. Thanks to DAWN for letting ur comment to publish.
Pakistan is facing the Worst form of Monarchy.
@Sab se pehle pakistan Yup! Innocent victims ...... chief of them is the proclaimed absconded free loading in Toronto!
Waste of time..... Nawaz or Shahbaz... equally bad for pak
We are going from bad to worse and the people don't care.
Nawaz Sharif was so much better than all the alternative options that are being provided.
The fate of this country and its people remain in the hands of Sharifs and Bhuttos (Zardari) as these corrupts are taking their turn one by one to loot & plunder, spend luxury life, build palaces and open off-shore companies. This will happen again again as we Pakistanis are only voters and don't have any other right and facility like drinking water, quality education, health facilities, merit based employment and better future for our children. Unluckily we as a nation accept all these injustices and deprivement of our fundamental rights and only cast our votes on fake promises, attractive slogans, flags colours, ethnicity, religious grounds and personal likes and dislikes.
All my duas will be to get rid of all these blood suckers and leeches from our motherland.
A leopard does not change his spots, we have to get rid of NS's empire and dynasty. Pakistan is for everyone, it does not belong to one or two families, nation want change and honest and sincere leaders - enough is enough!
To all the looters of Pakistan. Come clean, return all the looted in Pakistan and overseas money. Admit your fault and ask for no jail terms. We all commit sins and error but accept yours and public may forgive you.
If you love Pakistan , then root out the corruption , irrespective of the party , person .
@Sarmad Farooq: Excellent thought my friend
Both PPP & PMLN iare must for strengthening the democratic system in Pak. The success of PMLN will be determined by the Sharif Family unity.
I frankly believe that PML-N needs to evolve sensibly with the present times. Nawaz Sharif may be given a new lifelong honorary designation of 'Patron in Chief' while Shahbaz Sharif continues to do his usual effective work as CM Punjab. A non-Sharif may then be brought in with mutual agreement and party consensus, someone neutral and unblemished and capable of keeping the party together for the2018 elections. I would strongly advise the N- League to keep all the Sharif children out of politics if possible. They have done enough in keeping this major League faction alive and strong for so long and it's high time to pass on the baton.
@Observer - Canada Very true. Only ideology keeps a political party intact. This party has no ideology. Its members believe in making hay while the sun shines. Bound to disintegrate at the first hint of trouble.
@Sarmad Farooq What benefit to the country? The sooner we get rid of them the better for the country.
Are we foolish or kidding. It is a democratic party or a family business. Anyway, Nawaz is far better known and more understanding and caring human being. Pakistan will lose, nation will lose at this choice,
PML-N is not a political party,its a family run business that only focuses on its own agendas, the people that help the Sharifs are well promised, well paid and given a piece of the pie. Ever wonder why PML-N only focuses on huge projects, that's where the money is folks.
We have people like Sheikh Rasheed, Nawaz Sharif and Zardari running a political party, Imran Khan is there too, this is how low our politics are, this is how lost,misrepresented and lied to our people are. Than we wonder why Pakistan is going backwards
Until now I had my doubts over it,but since Shiekh rasheed have said that they would disintegerate,I am now sure that they won't since he have a track record of always predicting the exact opposite of what actually happens.