Daily Times

If Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid thought his threat of cancelling Nawaz Sharif’s passport when it expires would lead to a cataclysmic collapse of the opposition movement and the former three-time premier would suddenly cave in and rush back to the country, he was clearly wrong. Beyond that, to be realistic, it is difficult to see what the government expected to achieve with this move. For even if it had done its most basic homework, and consulted with anybody who has lived abroad let alone a competent authority on the matter, it would have understood that such chest-thumping is worth very little at the end of the day. It almost beggars belief that this government is resorting to such tactics not the least because the person who heads it has lived in the United Kingdom (UK) and is expected to know at least the immigration laws of that country.

Most likely the government ran into a brick wall of sorts with its efforts of trying to get the UK government to expel Nawaz Sharif and, in utter desperation, dangled this passport threat just to score a few points of its own. Either that or it was considering arresting the former PM whenever he went for renewal to the embassy, but it’s a good thing that such interpretations have not yet made it to the press. Watching the government run from pillar to post about this matter, one is forced to question why it hasn’t initiated negotiations with British authorities about an extradition treaty between the two countries. They have been trying to get Nawaz Sharif back for almost a year, surely this was enough time to get the ball rolling on a comprehensive treaty.

Still, whatever the technicalities that PML-N is counting on to keep their leader away from the country for as long as possible, Nawaz Sharif will have to return one day. And it’s not as if his prison sentence will somehow just go away if he keeps looking the other way for long enough. Right now he’s using his stay in London to frustrate the government just when the combined opposition is out for its head, but this can go on for only so long. It’s better if he returns and fights his battles here. And the government would do well to save itself from anymore embarrassment in trying to get him to come. After all, it’s not as if he sneaked out without anybody knowing. *