Chaudhary Nisar’s laudatory statement about General Ashfaq Kayani continued to echo in power corridors. On the face of it, it was just an ordinary gesture to show courtesy to the office of the COAS. But our pundits were hell bent to find deeper meaning, even where there might be none. Many insisted that this is the only time when Nawaz Sharif did not consult Nisar on the selection of the new COAS. And we can’t blame the Prime Minister for that, considering his earlier choices. The common denominator in Nawaz Sharif’s earlier choices of COAS was Nisar, who was always consulted. And it’s not a coincidence that all of them landed Mian Sahb in trouble with the Army, the last time quite grievously. No advice this time, Mian Sahb seemed to have conveyed this to the man from Chakri.

We are told that it was Kayani who advised the PM not take the first candidate in the seniority list as he was not “the Chief material.” But it was not to have Number Three as the COAS–if you understand the hint. Mian Sahb was quick to follow the seniority principle while discarding the first choice on the advice of the outgoing Chief.

We all wait for Chaudhary Nisar to finally enlighten us how will we get out of this morass.

Forget about the Sikandar fiasco or over 800 people dead since he became Interior Minister, when shall we see the way forward from him. Seven months into the government–we are yet to see him educate us on how he will handle the Taliban issue. Let’s just put behind the mourning over the “US conspiracy” to scuttle his grand strategy to bring about a breakthrough with Taliban. Where do we go from here?

And it’s not just we the Plebeians clamouring for answers. Senator Raza Rabbani tabled a list of 52 questions in the Senate on Thursday. Though the list was intended for Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, at least of them concerned Chaudhary Nisar. And it’s not just because Nisar also acts as the Foreign Minister, issuing statements about foreign policy every now and then. His latest foray about the US policy may have threatened a billion plus dollars from the Coalition Support Fund. And this happened when Ishaq Dar had to be admitted to the Cardiac Ward, perhaps, fearing about the dwindling foreign reserves.

Only the Taliban section in Senator Raza’s list had 11 questions: who were Taliban, if any, that the government was talking to? What are the parameters of the negotiations; Will the government talk to the groups who do not accept the Constitution? What was the official position on the Taliban demands about, for instance, release of their prisoners; pull-out of troops from the tribal areas.

It was a long, very long, list. Either Raza was too smart to put Nisar on the mat by exposing the whole gamut of holes in the government approach or he was too naïve to hope that Nisar was capable of delivering on all of this. We just had one question: what now?

We hear that the document on the national security keeps getting fat. We don’t know what will be our reaction when we finally live to the day when Holy Grail will be made public. But we do know that more intelligent people would have initiated a public debate on it by know to make the stake holders own it.

In the meantime, Nisar chooses to admonish his equally senior colleagues—sometimes unfairly, as he censured Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who happens to be one of the most responsible ministers. Nisar should actually be declared as Deputy Minister, a la Pervaiz Elahi, if he is to supervise the government like this. But we are not sure whether he gives the impression of running not just the Parliament but the government because Nawaz Sharif wants it this way. Or he just fills the vacuum created by PM’s prolonged absence at the Parliament. Our pundits have been conveyed that it’s because of the latter reason and the impression will be corrected soon by a more pro-active Nawaz Sharif in the coming days.

Published on: thespokesman.pk

Date: Saturday, December 14, 2013