Disappearing act

Published November 23, 2022

IT is most unusual for the Sharif clan to have collectively disappeared from the picture right before the PDM government readies itself to announce arguably its most consequential decision to date. With one brother, the prime minister, incapacitated due to a bout of Covid-19, the other has quietly set off on a 10-day leisure trip to Europe with his sons, daughter and grandchildren in tow. Just why the entire family thought it wise to pull a disappearing act in the midst of roiling political instability and economic uncertainty back home is anybody’s guess. It surely makes for poor optics. Should the elder Sharif — who appears to have leveraged his familial standing to prevail over a decision that was otherwise for the country’s prime minister to make — have absented himself right when that decision was being put into play? To proceed on a family vacation at such a crucial time smacks of disregard for the country’s affairs — the same country that he is seen to control through proxy.

The former prime minister appears to have made use of a diplomatic passport recently issued to him by the interior ministry to make his trip. This in itself is quite unbecoming, considering that the PML-N had spent years insisting that Mr Sharif was unable to travel due to his poor health. Yet, it seems that the first priority for him upon being given the enhanced travelling privileges that come with a diplomatic passport was a rambling leisure trip. One also wonders if Maryam Nawaz and her father paid a thought to how the people back home would feel about their European tour. After all, the country is buckling under unprecedented inflation, has been devastated by monsoon floods and is facing a cold, desperate winter without gas to warm homes or cook food. Was this really the time for any aspiring leader to be reminding the people that their considerable wealth insulates them from the daily miseries of the common folk?

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Peak of success
06 Oct, 2024

Peak of success

IT started with the ascent of Nanga Parbat in 2017 and ended with the summit of Tibet’s Shishapangma on Thursday....
Indian visitor
06 Oct, 2024

Indian visitor

AMONGST the host of foreign dignitaries expected to fly into Islamabad for the SCO Council of Heads of Government...
Violence once again
Updated 06 Oct, 2024

Violence once again

The warring sides must rein in their worst impulses and prioritise the nation’s well-being over short-term gains.
Controversial timing
Updated 05 Oct, 2024

Controversial timing

While the judgment undoes a past wrong, it risks being perceived as enabling a myopic political agenda.
ML-1’s prospects
05 Oct, 2024

ML-1’s prospects

ONE of the signature projects envisaged under the CPEC umbrella is the Mainline-1 railway scheme, which is yet to ...
No breathing space
05 Oct, 2024

No breathing space

THIS is the time of the year when city dwellers across Punjab start choking on toxic air. Soon the harmful air will...