News Analysis |
Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) on Sunday decided to nominate its candidates against its disgruntled leader Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan from the constituencies, National Assembly’s-NA-59 Rawalpindi, NA-63 Taxila, and Punjab Assembly’s PP-10 and PP-12.
Nisar’s mellow down attitude and PML-N decision earlier to not field candidate would contradict Nawaz’s stance.
PML-N has issued the tickets to Raja Qamarul Islam for NA-59 and PP-10, while Mumtaz Khan will contest the elections against the party’s high-profile rebel in NA-63. Moreover, in PP-12 Faisal Qayyum Malik will fight against Nisar.
In his Friday’s press conference, Nisar had given the impression that he had sorted the differences with the PML-N leadership. “Someone says I am angry, but I am not. I have differed from [Nawaz Sharif],” he asserted.
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The former interior minister said that he has a strong affiliation with PML-N workers and leaders as he served the party for over 34-years.
Moreover, he hinted on possible reconciliation with the party leadership and spoke of differences with the party’s Supreme leader Nawaz for the betterment of Nawaz Sharif.
He stressed that military should work along with the civilian administration against the challenges facing the country.
Significantly, though, he admitted that he was a human being, who has made many mistakes but his intentions were true. If he had revolted against the party he would be harsher in his vocal condemnation of the party, he added.
Read more: Estranged Nisar poses new challenges for Sharifs; criticizes his former bosses
Ironically, on June 11, only a day after submitting his nomination papers as an independent candidate, he said, “if he [Nisar] opened his mouth and broke his silence, these Sharif’s would not be able to face the public.”
He also said that “if there are ten faults in PTI, then there are over hundred in PML-N.” The ex-PML-N leader’s verbal onslaught did not stop here as he once again attacked the party for letting Maryam Nawaz control it.
He lashed out at Nawaz for awarding tickets to ‘political orphans’. He also indirectly criticized the PML-N’s “leader for life” for being an opponent of matriarchy in the past and now handing over the reins of the entire party to his daughter.
It was the brutal verbal assault against Nawaz. But merely after a couple of weeks, he mellowed down and addressed a presser with no conclusive signal except repeating the same old rhetoric of differences with Nawaz. Nevertheless, it was a sort of U-turn which did not go unnoticed.
Nisar and Shehbaz’s efforts to mend the ways and bridge the gaps now look in tatters as PML-N lock horns with Nisar.
Nisar’s political future with PML-N was always in doubt since he started to speak against the father-daughter duo.
On February 10 in Texila, Nisar had declared that he was not prepared to work under the leadership of youngsters like Maryam Nawaz. Because ‘he is not ‘political orphan’ to call his juniors sir or madam’.
Similarly, in the past, he had been a vocal opponent of Maryam’s role in party decisions.On February 14, while addressing the workers in Punjab house Nawaz said, “Where was the politician [Nisar] who had recommended him to return to Lahore via motorway, instead of leading a rally via GT Road”. This reference to Nawaz in absence was the clear indication of a rift between the two.
Read more: Ch. Nisar’s TV interview provokes PMLN backlash; says “Maryam is a…
Nisar responded to this criticism and clarified that decision to go via motorway was not only his but the whole of the senior party leadership was on board on this. So, it was the party leadership decision taken after consultation with at least eleven senior members including PM Abbasi.
Moreover, Nawaz’s decision to not extend the invitation to Nisar on all-important Central Working Committee (CWC) session held yesterday in Lahore was the direct implication of the latter’s rhetoric against the Nawaz’s post disqualification strategy.
In a Dunya News program ‘Tonight with Moeed Pirzada’, senior anchor person and reputed political analyst Hamid Mir claimed that PML-N leadership from Pakistan sent a message to Nawaz Sharif in London that since we [PML-N] cannot defeat Nisar in elections, therefore, the party should not field its candidates against Nisar.
It is an open secret that PML-N’s top tier leadership has remained divided between the two groups based on their stance against the confrontation against judiciary and military establishment.
Chief Minister Punjab and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) president always extended an olive branch towards the military establishment. He stressed that military should work along with the civilian administration against the challenges facing the country.
Read more: Chaudhry Nisar demands pay raise but Nawaz Sharif has gone bankrupt
But Nawaz has run a cold-blooded campaign against the military establishment and held Khalai-makhlooq responsible for all the ills- in the country, particularly since his July 29, 2017, ousting.
Shehbaz and even Nisar in the past uttered a complete opposite rhetoric to cool down the animosity between elder brother Nawaz Sharif and military establishment.
Hamid Mir had argued that if Nawaz fails to field the candidate against Nisar, it would be the defeat of his narrative which was built on a newly discovered ideology [in college ground-Abbottabad on November 19, 2017].
Since Nawaz always opposed Nisar, as later stopped him from targeting military establishment for political gains which may prove self-defeating. Nawaz paid no heed to Nisar and decided to move in opposite directions. Nisar’s mellow down attitude and PML-N decision earlier to not field candidate would contradict Nawaz’s stance.
Nawaz decision is an indication of the continuation of his stand against all those from within party who disagreed with him over anti-judicial and anti-establishment rhetoric.
Chaudhry Nisar has always openly criticized Nawaz over his post disqualification strategy in which it publically bashed Supreme Court and military-establishment over his July 28, 2017 decision to disqualify him.
In his latest outburst, the strain in the relationship may have escalated up to a point of no return. Nisar and Shehbaz’s efforts to mend the ways and bridge the gaps now look in tatters as PML-N lock horns with Nisar.