News Analysis |
Hours after former premier Nawaz Sharif was indicted in the Flagship Investment reference by the anti-graft court, news of the emergence of a forward block surfaced in Punjab. According to media reports, a group of PML-N lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly is all in readiness to make a forward block.
The rebel group of 40 MPAs has demanded the resignation of Nawaz as the head of the PML-N. The prospective dissidents included 2 provincial ministers, one Parliamentary secretary and dozens of members. The meeting was held in the house of MPA Shaukat Lalika with 40 MPAs taking part in it.
The problems multiply for Nawaz. His indictment more or less left him with no legal options to extricate himself from potentially career-ending graft references. His political strategy is being challenged by his own family member
The meeting was organized after the return of provincial minister, Raja Ashfaq from Saudi Arabia where he had gone to perform the pilgrimage. The group while taking exceptions to the leadership style of Nawaz Sharif said that the confrontational politics being done by Nawaz and his daughter Maryam is not only damaging the party but is endangering democracy.
Read more: “JIT ka fraud pakra gya”: Will conspiracy talk save Sharifs?
The members of the potential forward block have expressed their desire to see Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif take over the reins and arrest the fragmentation of the PML-N.
The news comes a day after Federal Minister and veteran PML-N leader, Riaz Pirzada while criticizing the ineffectiveness of the parliament and expressing dismay over the decline of the party, stressed the need for Shahbaz Sharif to take charge of the party.
The news comes a day after Federal Minister and veteran PML-N leader, Riaz Pirzada while criticizing the ineffectiveness of the parliament and expressing dismay over the decline of the party, stressed the need for Shahbaz Sharif to take charge of the party
Analysts are not surprised by this development; the intra-family feud over how to approach the problems faced by the party has taken its toll. Nawaz’s confrontational politics is in stark contrast with his brother’s seemingly pragmatic philosophy of politics. Shahbaz has admitted that collision between the institutions is inimical to the interests of the country and the party.
Read more: Sharif on dangerous course of defiance
The problems multiply for Nawaz. His indictment more or less left him with no legal options to extricate himself from potentially career-ending graft references. His political strategy is being challenged by his own family members. It would be intriguing to see how Sharif takes these multifarious threats to his political future head-on and that too without shaking the foundation of his party.