Shahbaz Sharif’s
challenges
Given the
PML-N’s current travails, amongst which mention cannot be avoided of their
leader Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification and ousting from the posts of prime
minister and party head, coupled with the debacle of the loss of the
Balochistan government and the election for the top slots of the Senate, the
meeting of the party’s General Council and the unopposed election of Shahbaz
Sharif as the party president provides some solace. In a charged atmosphere,
the party members roared their approval of what Nawaz Sharif and the new party
president Shahbaz Sharif had to say. While the former pulled no punches in
castigating the ‘conspiracies’ against him, in which the ‘bowing down’ before
the altar of power of the ‘remote controlled toys’, i.e. unlikely ‘allies’ PPP
and PTI, took pride of place, the latter read from a written speech that was
much more moderate and restrained. This was the first major gathering of the
PML-N after the shock of what transpired in the election of the Senate Chairman
and Deputy Chairman. However, in a change from the defiant narrative of Nawaz
Sharif since his ouster, the critique of the judiciary was conspicuous by its
absence. As was the seemingly estranged ‘dissident’ former interior minister
Chaudhry Nisar. Nawaz Sharif attempted to put a brave face on the Senate
debacle by characterising his rivals’ victory as actually a loss and the loss
of the PML-N as a victory. Whether that is true only time will tell. However,
there is no denying the fact that the unanimous election of Shahbaz Sharif as
party president has meant the party under attack has closed ranks, scotched any
speculation of cracks in its defences and thereby avoided the history of Muslim
Leagues wilting and fracturing under pressure. Nawaz Sharif himself benefited
from such a ‘revolt’ against then leader Mohammad Khan Junejo in 1988 when the
latter fell out of favour with military dictator General Zia. And was himself
subjected to something similar in the shape of Musharraf’s King’s Party in the
shape of the PML-Q, overwhelmingly drawn from the splintering ranks of the
PML-N. To that extent, the PML-N has demonstrated its resilience in the face of
adversity, Nawaz Sharif providing the momentum and lending force to this trend
with his defiance of the powers-that-be. He has now declared that his slogan
for the coming general elections is ‘respect the vote’, which will help turn the
elections into a referendum on how he has been treated.
While the PML-N
can pat itself on the back for weathering so far the storm that threatened
shipwreck, there is little doubt that the new president faces considerable
challenges. Shahbaz Sharif has the reputation of being a pragmatist, which in
the obtaining situation would suggest a different approach to his elder brother’s
defiant tone and stance. The critical question then is whether it will be Nawaz
Sharif or Shahbaz Sharif who will be calling the shots. If Shahbaz’s acceptance
speech after being elected party president is any guide, he pulled out all the
stops in praising Nawaz, going so far as to say that as a leader of the party Nawaz
is irreplaceable. But this whole debate about the strategy the party will adopt
under Shahbaz Sharif may be trumped by developments in the NAB cases against
the Sharifs, which threaten to knock out not only Nawaz Sharif and his emerging
heir-apparent Maryam, but also Shahbaz Sharif. It would seem politic therefore
for the party to have a fallback position if such an eventuality overtakes it. Coming
to the office of party president just four months away from the general
elections, Shahbaz Sharif has his work cut out in holding the party together
(something that it seems is only possible through recognizing that the party’s
power centre remains Nawaz Sharif), balancing his pragmatic instincts with the
defiant stance of Nawaz Sharif, and leading the PML-N into the general
elections to win. An unenviable raft of tasks indeed.
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