Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has not phoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif even once to enquire after his health after his return from London following his open-heart surgery and government circles are concerned about this situation.

Well-placed sources in the federal capital said that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan were directed to make sure that the army chief visits the prime minister when the latter returns to Islamabad and assumes charge of his office, but both ministers failed to accomplish this task. As a result, the prime minister’s return to Islamabad was delayed.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members returned home from London by Boeing 777 on July 9. Government circles were sure that the army chief would pay a courtesy visit to the prime minister and bring a bouquet for him as a good will gesture, but it did not happen. This development caused anxiety in government ranks.

A government official said on condition of anonymity that the prime minister’s Raiwind camp office was surprised to learn that the interior minister failed to accomplish this task. The interior minister is considered very close to the military establishment. He might not have made a sincere effort for a contact between the prime minister and the army chief, the official said.

On the other hand, the prime minister’s Raiwind camp office is concerned about the fact that the army chief enquired after Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan’s health, but he did not enquire after prime minister’s health. He also telephoned the captain of Pakistan’s Test Cricket Team Misbah-ul-Haq and felicitated him on his team’s victory in the first Test against England at Lord’s. It is strange that two most important figures of the country did not have any contact over the 11 days.

Sources said the prime minister wanted to reach Islamabad, but he was not feeling well, as there was an infection in his leg. They said that political circles in Islamabad were making efforts for army chief’s courtesy meeting with the prime minister. Sources also said the prime minister was planning to visit London once again next week for treatment of his heart as well as the infected leg.

The ruling camp splashed a news about prime minister’s return to Islamabad on Thursday (today) and arrangements were being made for an offering at Prime Minister’s House.

There are reports that an important meeting took place between Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the army chief and the news of prime minister’s return to Islamabad was leaked after this meeting.

It has become quite difficult for the prime minister to differentiate between friends and foes in the current political scenario because many in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) came forward to replace him in his absence from the country. Among them were the interior minister and the Punjab chief minister.

Prior to his meeting with the army chief, the Punjab chief minister met the enthusiastic supporter of the PML-N forward bloc Najaf Siyal in Murree. The leadership of the PML-N has apprehensions about the meeting. Now this is an open secret that defiant lawmakers of the PML-N have Punjab chief minister’s backing.