PML-N changes

The PML-N, the country’s largest opposition party, is undergoing the largest transformation since it was established under Mian Nawaz Sharif in the late 1980s. The change in its internal alignments could determine its direction at least in the near future and perhaps for a significantly long period of time. After many months, during which Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz had seemed to move into the shadows, with Shahbaz Sharif gaining central place in the party, there has now been a restructuring of the party high command. Shahbaz Sharif, who will be spending some time overseas for medical treatment, has given up leadership of the Public Accounts Committee and his post as leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. Maryam Nawaz meanwhile has for the first time been given a party post, as vice president. Other vice presidents include Pervez Rashid and Tariq Fatemi, both of whom had been moved to the sidelines following the Dawnleaks affair.

For the present, it seems that ex-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will play a central role in leadership, as the designated senior vice president of the PML-N. There is conjecture that he will effectively act as head of the party for some time to come, with doubts being expressed over whether Shahbaz Sharif plans to make any swift return to the country. Abbasi has been quick to clarify that Shahbaz Sharif is in London only for routine health checks. Another senior party leader in the same capital, Ishaq Dar, will put aside his cap as economic guru of the party and instead has been assigned to look after international affairs for the PML-N. Reading into this, there are suggestions that he may be in no hurry to come back either. All this comes as the Supreme Court turned down a plea by Mian Nawaz Sharif that his period of bail be extended beyond six weeks. Nawaz is set to return to prison. Whether there are negotiations underway to reach a broader settlement we do not know. Some PTI leaders have hinted this is a possibility, but beyond conjecture nothing is certain.

What we do know is that the PML-N is now in the hands of a new command. Under Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, we have a set of potentially dynamic vice presidents. The party is then evenly divided between those seen most close to Nawaz and those identified with Shahbaz. The return of Rashid and Fatemi seems to have strengthened the Nawaz camp to some degree, with the new generation of Sharifs also now poised to take over a more active role in the party. It is difficult to see a PML-N without the active presence of the two Sharif brothers. But in many ways for the politics of Pakistan, it would be a good omen if a major political party could change command in a non-dynastic fashion. The precise route the PML-N opts to follow will likely become clear in the days ahead as matters on various fronts are sorted out and piece by piece a new political dynamic put together.