Daily Times

The fictional character Lord Baelish from George RR Martin’s epic fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, was once described as willing to ‘see the realm burn, if he could be king of the ashes.’ When all is said and done, similar words may be used to describe Mian Nawaz Sharif. The PML-N completely dominated the political landscape in Pakistan since it came into power in 2013.

They controlled Islamabad, most of the provincial Governors, and had an iron hold over Punjab. It was unthinkable then that they could ever be in such a precarious position. However, Nawaz’s imprudent quarrelling and inadequate damage control has seen his party bear the full brunt of the Judiciary, establishment, and opposition parties. For the final act, it seems the fatal blow will likely come from within.

Sharif appears to have forgotten that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)is not made up of just the Sharif’s and their inner circle. It includes hundreds of sitting and former lawmakers. Many of them have contested elections under its banner for generations, long before the PML became the PML-N. Both the old timers and new recruits are in a state of shock over the antagonistic attitude of the party’s leadership since the Panamagate investigation started. Many inside the party feel that their current policies are damaging the credibility of the entire organisation, only to please a handful its leaders.

To further investigate the internal opposition in the PML-N, I spoke to Nawabzada Shams Haider, a three time former MPA from Jhelum. He has been on air several times over the past week representing a group of 70 disappointed lawmakers from the party.

Nawaz’s imprudent quarrelling and inadequate damage control has seen his party bear the full brunt of the judiciary, establishment, and opposition parties

He began by clarifying that “Despite popular opinion, all politicians did not get into public service to enrich themselves. Many of us got into politics to serve our constituencies and our nation. Many of us took the mantle from our elders who gave their entire lives for the cause. To see how far our party has deviated from its original ethos is just heart breaking. There are many principled, well-intentioned and educated candidates in the political pool that we are hoping to bring back into the parliament in the upcoming election. Our group consists of 70 current and former parliamentarians.”

Mr Shams explained the group’s primary grievances are that “The party has deviated too far from Jinnah’s vision. There is no unity, no faith, and no discipline in the ranks. They are primarily concerned with accumulating wealth and ruling the party like a monarchy. To protect this system, they are willing to do and say just about anything.

As a result they are dividing the nation, maligning institutions and embarrassing their members. That is unacceptable, party loyalties must not be above one’s loyalty to his or her nation. The second issue for us is the massive neglect of South Punjab, where many of our friends are from. The PML-N has governed Punjab for almost a decade, and has always ignored the south. We expected more, and have to take actions bring attention to that region.”

During the interview, Mr Shams placed a neatly typed list on his table. It had the names of his 70 ‘like-minded friends’ who share a desire to revive the PML to its original values. Many names were recognizable. Some were expected, and some were surprising. The list had nineteen names of sitting parliamentarians as well.  He asked that the list remain off the record for now, since many of them will be making their positions clear in due time. ‘We are not interested in joining or creating a new party at the moment. Think of us as a party without a name. Our objective is to improve the parliament with better people, and to work with whoever shares our vision of creating a better, stronger and more united Pakistan.’

Grievances are common in political parties, but the mood inside PML-N seems particularly sour. We should remember how quickly the PML-N became the PML-Q during Musharraf’s tenure, only to flip back to its original suffix in 2008. Considering the amount of breakaway factions forming, PML-N would be wise to engage in some introspection and alter its course. Other parties too should see such schisms as motivation to remain true to the core values of their members and charters. Especially since a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

The writer is an agriculturist with degrees in Economics and Mass Communication. He can be reached at Skhanzada@ymail.com

Published in Daily Times, April 19^th 2018.