WITH Hamza Shehbaz finally in the saddle as the chief executive of the PML-N’s power base of Punjab, he will now have to focus attention on good governance and delivery, if he wishes to consolidate his political hold on the province.

This wrenching of the reins from the unwilling hands of the PTI was achieved, despite the PTI trying every trick in the book and, legal experts say, going beyond the pale of the Constitution. This had enabled the governing party, and the PML-Q faction allied to it, to delay the inevitable, but not more. The law prevailed in the end.

Seeing his son and key loyal lieutenant for the past two decades occupying the seat of power in Punjab would normally be viewed as a great source of strength by the prime minister, as he would not then be distracted by issues in the heartland of his support base.

However, this could be a double-edged sword as there has been justified criticism of why the PML-N could not find even one suitable leader from the party to take up this position, preferring, instead, to ‘keep it within the family’.

Each move by Hamza Shehbaz will be put under the microscope by the PML-N’s opponents.

Each move by Hamza Shehbaz will be put under the microscope by the PML-N’s opponents and whatever remains of the independent media in the country, to see if his nomination and ascent to the highest office in Pakistan’s most populous province is based on merit or owes itself to nepotism.

He can’t afford to falter as the PTI, with its aggressive and divisive campaign after the loss of office, will target him relentlessly for acts of omission and commission. His handling of the Imran Khan-led protest march to Islamabad could be one of the first tests of his nerves and skills.

Read: Does Hamza face an immediate threat to office? Here's what law experts have to say

In the initial months of his first stint in office, he will have to deal with a major law-and-order challenge as his government’s jurisdiction extends from south Punjab to the Attock Bridge, beyond which is the PTI’s citadel of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

If the protest march reaches even a quarter or less of the two million people that Imran Khan has promised to bring to the federal capital to force immediate elections, a large contingent of his supporters will have to come from KP and urban Punjab.

Logistics will matter. So will his hold over the administrative machinery. He will be tested, but it is too early to say whether he can handle the challenge firmly, yet also with kid gloves, in order to avert a major crisis and prevent the situation from spinning out of control.

To my understanding, the role played so far by Hamza Shehbaz has been to attend to issues of members of the Punjab Assembly and to address demands of constituency politics, including deciding on and running the PML-N set-up at that level.

In terms of his achievements in that area, PML-N insiders say he has acquitted himself well and that the party rank and file as well as leadership have faith in him. How far has that role, even if he was successful at playing it, equipped him to run the government is another matter.

He may turn out to be an effective manager and a sure-footed administrator like his father, but his one serious handicap is his lack of charisma. Just like Shehbaz Sharif, no matter how hard Hamza Shehbaz tries, he does not make that electric connection with, or charge up, supporters like his cousin does.

Whenever Maryam Nawaz Sharif addresses supporters, her bond with workers/supporters is instantaneous and one feels they are on the same page from the word go. Paradoxically, despite lacking in charisma and possessing below average oratory skills for a national leader, Nawaz Sharif quickly established his presence on the same page as his PML-N support base.

The truth is that charisma too goes just that far and not beyond. In any case, neither father nor son have the luxury of learning on the job for a full five-year term as, in the best case scenario, they can only be in their respective offices until next August.

However, their success and their party’s success in the next election will hinge on this short stint as the challenges facing the country are immense and, with a paper-thin majority, there are compromises inherent in the delicately assembled ‘national unity government’.

They will have to tread with care and, at the same time, with speed. Understandably, during Ramazan, things work at a different pace, but after Eid major issues, particularly those to do with the economy, will need to be addressed — and addressed with vision and heart.

Reducing the burgeoning deficit will be painful, no matter how imaginative the ideas that are put to work. I am sure great minds are at work to plot the best course forward. Let’s hope the best course isn’t one that inflicts more pain on the shirtless.

At the same time, those at the helm have to be mindful of the impact on the public mind of the constantly divisive message being pulsated by three to four leading lights of the last government. Their common refrain are warnings of bloodshed. These may be tiresome for some of us but can be seen as a signal by the PTI cadres, an instigation.

I’d be the last person to suggest administrative measures against anybody, but surely the government of the day needs to acknowledge that it has so far conceded a walkover to the current opposition in the battle of narratives. This can be costly as this week’s events in Madina showed.

Surely, something needs to be done to counter them. Those in positions of authority need to state with one voice what is acceptable and what isn’t. Such appalling behaviour can’t be ignored and shouldn’t be rewarded.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2022