IF there is a strategy, it is not evident. PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan, but his statement to the media on Wednesday has raised more questions than it has answered. Reading from a prepared statement and avoiding questions from the media, Mr Sharif delivered yet another broadside against the military-led establishment — arguably his boldest yet. The uproar over intemperate remarks against Pakistan by US President Donald Trump had obscured legitimate questions about this country’s security policies and choices in the past, and Mr Sharif was right to highlight some of the more uncomfortable aspects of the Pakistani narrative and past security choices. But the full comments by Mr Sharif were a hodgepodge of personal grievances, political boasts and evasive statements. Most evidently, Mr Sharif did nothing to clarify the purpose of the Sharif brothers’ visit to Saudi Arabia — a sudden, days-long trip that sparked frenzied speculation in Pakistan.

Even on the issue of national security and why much of the outside world is so sceptical of Pakistani claims about the country’s commitment to the fight against militancy, Mr Sharif simply overlooked his own government’s numerous failures. The counter-insurgency campaign in North Waziristan Agency was initially resisted by Mr Sharif, who spent much of his first year in office arguing for peace talks with the banned TTP. The National Action Plan was created on Mr Sharif’s watch as prime minister, but his government made little attempt to implement it or invigorate the National Counter Terrorism Authority. The lack of interest in judicial reforms created the space for the military to argue for the necessity of military court trials for civilian terrorism suspects. In Punjab, the Sharif brothers have failed to create an effective civilian counterterrorism force while resisting a broader role for the military-led Punjab Rangers in the province. The fight against extremism is non-existent; and in some cases, undermined by the PML-N’s own actions and politics.

Certainly, the failures are widespread and not of the PML-N’s alone. But Mr Sharif is failing to even provide clarity on the political front. He speaks mostly in riddles and euphemisms familiar to civilian politicians, but that is only adding to the confusion at the moment. Does Mr Sharif intend to lead the PML-N into the next general election or not? If the PML-N wins enough seats in the next election, does Mr Sharif intend to try and force his way back into elected office? Furthermore, the perception that Mr Sharif and the PML-N are seeking outside help to secure their place in domestic politics is unhelpful to the democratic order in the country. Caught between a party that seems to be hoping for political restraint from him and seemingly his own political instinct to fight, Mr Sharif is creating unnecessary confusion. A coherent, plausible political strategy is urgently needed.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2018