Daily Times

Mian Nawaz Sharif, chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) these days campaigning for his party in the upcoming elections for the AJK Legislative Assembly due to be held on June 26. As is usual with the Opposition, Mr Sharif criticised the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Mian sahib’s tirade about the PPP was general but his particular target seemed to be President Asif Ali Zardari. Mr Sharif roared against the president and said Mr Zardari was a man who did not learn from his past mistakes. “President Zardari has run a highly corrupt government. He should quit the politics of banditry and stop damaging the country’s major institutions,” said Mr Sharif. He also regretted having signed the Murree Accord with the president since Mr Zardari did not keep his word. Mian sahib warned the government that the people of Pakistan have lost patience. Even though such heightened rhetoric by politicians is quite normal during election campaigns, it seems as if Mr Sharif was more annoyed with himself than with the president. Ever since the PPP government came into power, it has succeeded in ‘fooling’ the PML-N, especially Nawaz Sharif, on a number of occasions.

Elections in the AJK Legislative Assembly are going to be quite interesting. The PML-N is trying to up the ante against the PPP and its coalition partners like the MQM in order to mark its presence there. “Pakistan belongs to the 180 million Pakistanis and millions of Kashmiris, not to Zardari or Gilani. The politics of flattery will not work in Kashmir,” said Mr Sharif. Apart from the government, he also blamed the intelligence agencies for ruining the country. One of the reasons for his obvious anger is that the government has so far protected the military and intelligence agencies, especially post-Abbottabad raid and PNS Mehran attack. The PML-N has been the most vocal as far as the civil-military imbalance is concerned. President Zardari, on the other hand, has outmanoeuvred the PML-N by closing ranks with the security establishment. What the PPP government has failed to realise is that in its quest for short-term gains, the country may lose out on an opportunity to finally make the military subservient to civilian rule. *