Amir Mateen
Islamabad- “You should thank your stars that you are not the prime minister in today’s Pakistan; you can’t have a moment’s peace during the day and a restful sleep at night; it is more of a curse than a luxury.”
So said PML (N) whip Sheikh Aftab who is perhaps the most under-rated politician in the ruling party. At least half of the government functioning in the Parliament rests on his shoulders and yet he remains a junior minister. He was responding to Javed Hashmi’s assertion that he had never aspired to become the prime minister. No sooner had Aftab uttered these golden words than walked in Nawaz Sharif, accompanied by a band of his senior ministers who are habitually absent from Parliament when the prime minister is not around. Aftab’s description of the prime minister’s life was written large over the face of Nawaz Sharif. Gone were the heady days when he relished his Kashmiri cuisine and could spare time for his music (he once showed journalists Zaffar Abbas, Nusrat Javed, Mohammad Malick and yours truly his collection of music, Geeta Dutt being his favourite). One could notice traces of sleepless nights and troubled days on his face even from the Press Gallery.
Times may have changed. Perhaps this was not the kind of prime ministership he had hoped for. It was so easy to promise that the issues of energy, inflation and law and order will be resolved in months and yet so difficult to fulfill them. One crisis after another keeps cropping up. Those who failed him in their jobs sat next to him, equally perturbed. While Chaudhary Nisar kept shaking his right foot, which he always does whenever in stress, Nawaz Sharif kept taking notes on a paper slip.
The prime minister then asked Aftab Sheikh to pass the paper to Khursheed Shah who had taken a prayer break from his opening speech on the presidential address. Khursheed talked to Nawaz who sat at arm’s length and then stood up to postpone his speech. I was told that Nawaz wanted to discuss the political situation with Khursheed Shah who was to meet Imran Khan later. The PPP seemed to have become very relevant to the current crisis. It is important for the PML (N) to keep it at least neutral if not on its side. This keeps the PTI virtually isolated as even its closest allies are keeping their options open. The PPP would become even more important if things turned messier.
The PPP has political interests in the perpetuation of the present Assemblies. The last thing the PPP wants is a military intervention. In any case, PTI’s mobilisation and success actually erodes PPP ground, particularly in Punjab. But the PPP would not be able to sit on the fence if the PML (N) government was seen to be as heavy handed or if large-scale violence broke out. The party has already expressed its reservations about the suspension of fundamental rights. Some personal interests may also be involved. After all, PPP’s key players still have cases pending against them.
The PML (N) too has a trump card in the shape of PPP governments in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which could be overthrown any time the PML (N) wants. But right now Asif Zardari seem to have a better hand at the table. And he happens to be a better player too when it comes to political poker. His call to Tahirul Qadri was a master shot to exert pressure on the PML (N). Even PPP minions were seen cutting personal deals. A Sindhi member was found pressuring a minister in the lobbies to have two ‘friends’ appointed in Attorney General’s office. The PPP leverage will increase the messier it turns.
And if some opposition members are to be believed the situation is headed the wrong way. Sheikh Rasheed alleged that the Punjab government was already seizing bikes from ordinary folk to stop them from participating in the rally. PTI’s Ghulam Sarwar complained that petrol pumps were being closed. More ingenuous was the alleged seizure of the sound system. Farooq Sattar added more fear by saying that “if this goes on like this the last refuge of Parliament might become the last grave.” The joke in circulation was that some members contemplated moving precious items from Parliamentary Lodges lest they might not get another chance. Does this mean that panic has already set in?
“What do you expect when you threaten to bring 10 million motorcycles to take over the Capital,” roared Aftab Sheikh who performed as night watchman in the absence of senior colleagues. “The government has to do its basic job of protecting citizens and that’s what we are doing.” The Chief Whip went on to claim that Shahbaz Sharif was running a model government in Punjab.
We just hope that the kid brother does not replicate his model approach that he applied in Model Town recently. However, Pervaiz Rasheed reassured us in the lobbies that no such thing was happening. Usual precautions have to be taken but there is no plan for using extra force. But he alleged that it would be difficult to exercise absolute restrain as the PTI was determined to play mischief. He claimed that Imran Khan had gathered huge funds for buying bikes and was found checking their prices in market.
Now this was funny as well a very serious charge. We had no access to check this out from Big Khan as he had stopped coming to Parliament. Sheikh Aftab had a point when he asked why did the PTI take oath if the elections were rigged. More important, why did they question the PML (N) mandate after a year and not earlier. Well, we too fail to understand why can’t the PTI tell us its demands about electoral reforms. We can understand if Imran is keeping his political strategy close to his chest but why not share his electoral demands. Quite possibly, they could be accepted without having to turn the country upside down and risking myriad lives. But then this is not the only thing that we don’t understand about the illogical Khan.
The News
August 8, 2014