Shahbaz is PML-N’s best bet

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is all set to wear the mantle of the acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) at a time when a powerful campaign is in the full swing to paint his Punjab government as a shady administration and somehow entangle him in a dubious affair.

There is a complete consensus in the PML-N over Shahbaz Sharif becoming its chief because he has been considered as a natural choice after the ouster of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and also due to the fact that he, as the chief minister, has performed exceedingly well compared to his provincial counterparts. He is being billed by the PML-N as its best bet in the given lot.

This will be the second time when he will be taking up this party job. Previously, Nawaz Sharif was banned under a law, framed by Pervez Musharraf, from remaining the PML-N president during the Sharif family’s exile. However, after the bar was discarded, the elder brother came back as the party president.

Recently, Nawaz Sharif had to vacate the senior most office due to the Supreme Court-sanctioned disqualification as the prime minister and a member of the National Assembly on July 28 last year. However, he was subsequently re-elected as the party president after the parliamentary approval of the Elections Act, 2017. The apex court expelled him as the PML-N chief, and he had to leave the position once again, paving the way for Shahbaz Sharif to come in.

Days after Shahbaz Sharif was conclusively cited as the party’s prime minister, should the PML-N win the upcoming general elections, after the chances of Nawaz Sharif to get this slot due to the court verdict waned, his detractors directed their guns at him to taint him even before he could ascend this berth.

Knowledgeable PML-N leaders have no doubt that the arrest of senior bureaucrat Ahad Cheema and other widespread actions by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in Punjab are intended to encircle and damage Shahbaz Sharif even prior to his likely success to secure the top position.

The NAB’s extraordinary activity in Punjab is attempting to portray the provincial administration as shady and soiled, which, however, runs counter to the pervasive perception, even privately accepted by its leading opponents, that it has been much better in transparency, delivery, performance and governance as against other provinces.

While pressure is being mounted on Shahbaz Sharif and the PML-N just before the launch of the full-fledged election campaign, there are no such developments in any other province by any institution. The NAB is silent on reported scandals that have emerged from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) like billion tsunami trees scam, and Balochistan. No new action of the corruption buster has surfaced from Sindh and the only old cases relating to Dr Asim Hussain and Sharjeel Memon, which were registered long time ago, are being pursued.

Another instance of exerting pressure on Shahbaz Sharif is the talk that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has started with a bang about someone called Faisal Subhan in relation to the Multan Metro Bus Project. The case has already been thoroughly investigated by China and trashed after it punished the company for the fraudulent claim about corruption in the Multan project.

Despite the campaign launched by the PML-N’s adversaries from different directions, all opinion polls are unanimous in predicting that Shahbaz Sharif will be the next prime minister as his party is better placed to win the forthcoming polls.

Even a single public survey is yet to forecast that the PTI, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) or any other political entity will emerge victorious in the next elections. Everyone is putting all of them behind the PML-N.

On his part, Shahbaz Sharif persists with his “dovish” policy towards every institution unlike Nawaz Sharif. He is yet to comment on the Supreme Court decision that dethroned the former prime minister as the party president. But despite his approach, he is facing the concerted campaign from different sides.

His election as the party president on Tuesday will be symptomatic of a smooth transition in the PML-N at a time when it is confronted with a multitude of challenges, which will increase manifold as the next polls will draw close.

While Shahbaz Sharif doesn’t publicly share the hardline adopted by his brother and has maintained a visible distance from it, he, as the PML-N’s nominated prime minister, will obviously reap the fruits that the party will get as a result of Nawaz Sharif’s movement, which, according to all permutations, is gaining ground, adding to its popularity. He gets the senior most party office when the PML-N is most popular and intact despite constant attacks and Himalayan challenges.

It is clear by now that the PML-N’s election campaign to counter the drive of its antagonists will be mainly spearheaded by Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam in an aggressive manner.