A SUCCESSION struggle in the PML-N appears to be nearing resolution. But consider that whoever is to lead the party in the next general election, that person’s last name will be Sharif. The largest political party in the country and a party that will be seeking a fourth term in government is still a fiefdom of the Sharifs.

If Nawaz Sharif does not nominate his brother, Shahbaz, to be the party’s candidate for prime minister and is unable to find a way back into electoral politics himself, assuming the party again wins power next year, the PML-N prime minister will be little more than a proxy for the elder Sharif.

If Mr Sharif does nominate his brother, Shahbaz, the PML-N will formally become a family affair. Matters could become worse if Shahbaz Sharif nominates his son Hamza to lead the party in Punjab.

Certainly, it is the right of a party to choose its own leaders and it is the right of the voters to choose their representatives. But democracy will not take a qualitative leap forward if parties are simply transferred from one family member to another.

The PPP has demonstrated both the good and bad sides of family control. Benazir Bhutto was a worthy heir to her father and a historic political figure in her own right. But few would argue that her widower, Asif Zardari, has on the whole served the party well. Indeed, the fact that the next leader of the party will be either Bilawal Bhutto or one of his siblings has likely prevented a leadership challenge to Mr Zardari emerging.

In the PML-N’s case, Shahbaz Sharif would arguably be one of the most qualified candidates for prime minister in the country’s history, given his long experience as the executive head of a province with more than 50pc of the country’s population.

But that would not be the reason for Mr Sharif becoming the prime ministerial candidate. The sole reason would be that he is the brother of Nawaz Sharif.

Another dispiriting aspect of the PML-N’ politics is that it has not sought to cultivate a broad range of next-generation leaders. There is a team of somewhat younger faces around Maryam Sharif, but it is clear they owe their position to loyalty to Ms Sharif’s ambitions. Nawaz Sharif has relied almost exclusively on a small coterie that was with him in the 1990s. In Shahbaz Sharif’s stints as chief minister there is no one he has recognisably groomed for future leadership other than his sons.

If the present is discouraging, the future appears to be even gloomier.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2017