The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has long been put down as the party of the Sharif family, an impression it has sometimes found burdensome. While much has been read into the recent developments, the party appears to have failed once again to rid itself of the family-affair impression.
Many were taken aback when it was announced that Shahbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and party president, was giving up the office of the Public Accounts Committee chairman, for which the entire opposition had fought a tenacious battle against a government determined to deny it to a man accused by the National Accountability Bureau of corruption. The former Punjab chief minister has also decided to extend his stay in London.
In Punjab, his son Hamza Shahbaz, the leader of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly, allowed smooth passage to a local government bill introduced by the treasury that the party was expected to fight tooth and nail. Instead, Hamza led his team out of the house in a token protest. During earlier proceedings, too, he had sat silently.
Rumour mills got abuzz when Maryam Nawaz broke a week of Twitter silence with the message: Nawaz Sharif will never let you down. The tweet came the day Shahbaz quit his PAC office and Nawaz’s plea for an extension in his bail on health grounds was turned down by the Supreme Court.
The next day, Maryam was elevated to the office of vice-president. The former prime minister’s daughter has long been tipped as his political heiress. Her social media presence and her successful campaign for her mother’s election from a Lahore constituency have done her prospects no harm. Nominally, she has been placed under Shahbaz, the party president. However, the latter’s recent withdrawal from two parliamentary offices, leaves him under a cloud. Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi meanwhile has been made the senior vice-president. It now seems that in Shahbaz’s absence, Mr Abbasi will steer the party’s ship in the parliament, whereas Maryam will call the shots in the party organization.
A line-up of vice-presidents and other office-bearers picked at the same time are all Nawaz’s lieutenants. What the shuffle has failed to do is bring about a no-cracks unity in the party. Khwaja Saad Rafiq, the firebrand in NAB custody, has already voiced his reservations in the parliamentary party meeting, warning that the changes would be seen as suspicious and could lose the party popular support.
Shahbaz has always been accused of being soft in dealing with powerful circles. Rumours of his concluding a deal for himself while Nawaz fights for survival threaten to drive a wedge in the Sharif family as well as the party. He needs to clear the air. Time is running out. *