Whether former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would be able to maintain his defiant politics or not in months to come is yet not known, but he has certainly kept his party intact so far. His exit from political arena would have brought an end to Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N). How Sharif's four years had been in power? So far, he has proven his critics wrong who had made all kinds of predications including split in the party, interim setup, suspension of assemblies etc. Party so far looked firm and standing behind Sharif despite few dissenting voices. Sharif has taken a difficult path by challenging the judges of the superior judiciary, who had given verdict against him. His audience has been his voters in a bid to counter opposition's narrative that he has been disqualified for corruption and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) trial will end his political career. NAB verdict is expected by April, as the government term will expire on May 5. Nawaz Sharif's politics seems at stake. What happened in the last six months has almost shaken the family. The two verdicts of the Supreme Court by three and five members bench had badly damaged the most powerful political-cum-business family of Punjab.Many rightly give this credit to Sharif's key political opponent, Imran Khan, whose constant campaign against him and former president, Asif Ali Zardari, had kept Panama and corruption issue alive. He is confident of success in the next elections, but Sharif's defiant is frustrating him and he has now attacked NAB, for its slow pace and not doing much during the probe. Sharif too looked frustrated with Imran, whom he called fascist and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) the product of dictators. Perhaps the wrong expression as it does not suit PML-N and Nawaz Sharif, which are the product of establishment. With it comes to his disappointment with the PPP, and former president Asif Ali Zardari, the PML-N chief should also look back to his politics against the PPP from 2008 to 2013, and find the answer. As far as the Charter of Democracy is concerned, which is still considered as one of the best documents bringing political opponents closer, both PPP and PML-N, had violated, but the PPP must admit that both the late Benazir Bhutto and Mr Zardari violated it, first when she negotiated with former president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for an NRO, against the spirit and specific clause of the COD and again when Mr Zardari resisted restoration of deposed judges. But, what Nawaz Sharif did during PPP's government practically brought an 'end' to this relationship when he himself went to the court against Mr Zardari in Memogate. But, it was during his tenure in the last four years during which former president's closest six aides faced investigation and interrogation, the PPP leader cut all his relations with the PML-N and former prime minister. There is no doubt that politics, which for almost 40 years, had revolved around Bhutto and anti-Bhutto, now being revolved around pro- and anti-Nawaz. He may be out from electoral politics, but does not look down. Not many people including those within the party expect the kind of defiant he has shown, rightly or wrongly. Sharif and PML-N historically were the brainchild of the establishment, but it is also a fact that during his three tenures, he was the one who had also confront with the establishment, at times on political and foreign policy matters. If Nawaz Sharif had created history for getting elected for the record third time, he also created history by not been able to complete his term even though his party is still in power. Sharif should blame himself for mishandling and at time created problems for himself instead of concentrating on success of his government as compared to previous PPP government like in the operation against terrorism, reaching CPEC, bringing load shedding reduce against what it used to be during the PPP government, inflation to a reasonable level, major success in Karachi operation, etc. Besides, his government in his first year created political harmony. He allowed nationalist like Dr Abdul Malik to head the government in Balochistan and did not create hurdles for the PTI forming government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while maintaining friendly relations with the PPP in Sindh. But, there were five points or issues which were badly mishandled and caused serious problems and his ultimate ouster as the PM. (1) Decision in haste in the trial against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf; (2) political handling of Imran Khan, his key political rival; (3) civil-military relationship in dealing with India; (4) Panama crisis; and (5) Breaking ties with the PPP in Sindh. All these crisis could have been averted had he taken parliament along and into confidence. Panama is one issue which might not have reached to this conclusion had he accepted opposition's proposal. Instead, he took the case to the SC first, followed by other parties and paid the price. Had he himself stepped down in April 2016 after the name of his children appeared in Panama Papers, he could have averted major crises and the media hype. He even ignored some of the sane voices in the party, which advised him not to go to the SC, not to address the nation or in the Parliament in a bid to defend his position. His politics in the last one year, gave a new political boost to Imran Khan, who was down after Judicial Commission report on election rigging and back-to-back defeats in local bodies, by-elections and Cantonment Board elections. As a smart captain, he exploited Panama in the best possible way against Sharif; it gave Imran a new life in politics. Mishandling of these five issues overshadowed some of his government’s achievements as well. He could have easily averted 126 days dharna and bloody incident like Model Town massacre would not have occurred had he engaged Imran Khan, soon after his demand to reopen or fresh elections on four seats. He badly misread Captain's capacity to attract a big crowd. Even at the initial stage, if Sharif had accepted his demand, the political tension would have defused. Had he gone for fresh elections on four seats and even lost one or two, the opposition would have been taken aback. But, he allowed the movement to build. It was his biggest political mistake. It was Sharif's bold decision to engage Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) prior to major offensive against them in North Waziristan. The move held in bringing all political parties including religious parties on one page. He even went to Banigala and met Imran Khan, who till that meeting was against the use of military option. Here’s a question: if Sharif could meet Imran on this issue, why he did not meet him and resolved his demand on four seats? When Nawaz Sharif complained that his government was not allowed to settle down and problems created with ‘dharna’ politics, he should ask himself whether he handled it, politically. What is going on in Islamabad in the last 20 days is also the outcome of his government's mishandling of the whole issue. With not much time left for Senate elections and general elections, Sharif has taken a big political risk. The party is intact but facing a serious credibility crisis like taking too long to relieve Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Sharif's last option for success is the success of his party in the next election and it is important for him that he should play his cards well. Let PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to run the government in the next six months smoothly. Much now depends on post-NAB verdict, which is expected in March, but the delay in the elections as a result of Parliament failure to pass the amendment on census and delimitation could damage the system. But, if that happens, Sharif or PML-N alone would not be responsible. Perhaps, the entire Parliament would face the consequences and would be blamed. The writer is the senior columnist and analyst of Geo, The News and Jang. Twitter: @MazharAbbasGEO
