CJP’s riposte
March 23, 2018
being Pakistan Day produced the usual spate of messages from leaders. While
many of such messages are traditionally conventional, noteworthy ones too were
on display this time. Perhaps the most significant amongst these was the
riposte of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar to the suggestion by
Sheikh Rashid of the one-man Awami Muslim League that the CJP should declare a
90-day judicial martial law in the run-up to the general elections and decide
who should head the caretaker government. The CJP, while addressing a Pakistan
Day ceremony at his alma mater Cathedral School, Lahore, categorically rejected
any notion of judicial martial law, pointing out that there is no such
provision in the Constitution. He underlined that the judiciary would not allow
any deviation from the Constitution or democracy to be derailed. The CJP’s
clear message should help scotch such outlandish suggestions and the rumours to
which they have given birth. Meanwhile in another significant move, it seems
that after Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been appointed the
president of the PML-N, his brother and ousted prime minister and former head
of the party Nawaz Sharif appears to be stepping back from the confrontational
posture he has adopted since his disqualification. Shahbaz Sharif is well known
to be a pragmatist. No doubt he has been advising Nawaz Sharif and the party to
reconsider their aggressive strategy on the eve of the general elections. Nawaz
Sharif’s and his daughter Mariam Sharif’s strident campaign against the
judiciary that has disqualified him has been read by analysts as bringing him
to a confrontation with the army, believed to be backing the judiciary’s proactive
approach since the Panama Papers case. This perception has of late been
reinforced by that part of the COAS ‘Bajwa doctrine’ that speaks of defending
the judiciary against its detractors. Sober reflection on these developments by
the PML-N leadership may have persuaded them that the aggressive rhetoric has
run its course after providing the PML-N with a ‘cementing’ effect to prevent
defections and splintering of the party’s ranks. The PML-N, like all its
predecessor Muslim Leagues in our history, is not the sort of party whose
parliamentarians would be inclined to stick with it through thick and thin,
particularly if their electoral prospects (and related good fortune) are
threatened by conflict with the establishment. The new turn or approach seems
to be aimed at preventing a repeat of the debacles the PML-N suffered in the
downfall of its coalition government in Balochistan and the Senate elections
that followed. And speaking of the aftermath of the rout of the PML-N-led
government in Quetta, one of the main protagonists of that defeat, Balochistan
Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti has revealed that Balochistan Chief Minister
Quddus Bizenjo will soon be announcing a new party that will accommodate the
PML-N ‘dissidents’ and some tribal chiefs. How he claims this will be different
from any other party escapes the imagination. The new formation will be led by
former governor and chief minister Balochistan Zulfiqar Magsi. The Jamalis reportedly
will play an important role in the new party. These revelations indicate that
this party is intended to give a political identity to all those who deserted
the PML-N in Balochistan and rope in the willing tribal chiefs to have a chance
in the general elections. The concatenation of forces that this platform aims
to gather seems poised to make a good showing in the coming general elections.
While the PML-N
may be revising its strategy and turning away from confrontation towards
reconciliation with the powers-that-be, what remains to be seen is what the
establishment’s response will be. It goes without saying that even if the National
Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases go against them and Nawaz, Mariam and Shahbaz
Sharif all land up in jail, the PML-N, with or without the Sharifs, will still
have to go into the electoral contest. Based on their standing in Punjab,
reflected partially in the massive rallies Nawaz and Mariam Sharif have been
addressing of late, the party’s chances in the general elections are still
bright. The PML-N therefore is trying to hedge its bets, preserve its
stronghold Punjab, prevent any flight of ‘seasonal sparrows’ from its ranks,
and march forward to face its electoral rivals with confidence.
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