A mature politician

Over the past decade or so, Nawaz Sharif has shown a lot more maturity as a politician. He rightly signed the Charter of Democracy. When the PPP was holding negotiations with Musharraf on the NRO, Nawaz distanced himself from it. He supported the PPP after the 2008 elections for the sake of democracy. Conversely, he also focused on his provincial government in Punjab. After the 2013 elections, Nawaz accepted the mandate of every political party and formed his government in the centre. Recently, when the PPP co-chairman criticised law-enforcement agencies and the military, Nawaz rightly supported the military. In addition, he formed the Judicial Commission to probe rigging in the 2013 general elections. Subsequently, he showed grace by advising all parties not to deseat PTI MNAs. Besides, the performance of the PML-N government under his leadership is satisfactory, much better than the last government.
All these things show that Nawaz is handling things in a professional manner. Civil-military relations have improved. The economy is on the right track. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a big achievement of the PML-N government. Nonetheless, there is room for improvement. Appointments on key positions should be done as priority and action needs to be taken against corrupt officials. Meritocracy should prevail in all matters of appointments and recruitments. Conversely, mainstream political parties should follow in the footsteps of the PML-N and try to improve governance in their respective provinces. The politics of slogans is history and Nawaz, it seems, understands that.
Waqar Umar Memon
Karachi