Adil Najam
Former Prime Minister and PML(N) leader Nawaz Sharif is back in Pakistan.
Reportedly he landed in Lahore to a large reception by his supporters and was escorted to a special bullet proof car that had been brought for him. According to The News:
A special plane carrying the PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz Sharif and other family members arrived in Lahore from the holy city of Madina on Sunday evening. The convoys of PML-N workers arrived in Lahore to accord rousing welcome to Sharifs. Large welcome banners and pictures of Sharif brothers have been displayed at several places in Lahore. The special plane Boeing777 carried Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif along with 26 members of their family from the holy city of Madina.
The central and provincial leaders of PML-N, lawyers and members of civil society have arrived to receive Sharifs at Lahore Airport. Nawaz Sharif is expected to first visit Data Darbar in a procession and address a public meeting. Security had been tightened in Lahore especially on the airport ahead of arrival of the PML-N leader. Provincial home department has allowed only hundred party leaders to receive Sharifs at the airport, party sources claimed.
According to sources, bullet-proof cars for Sharifs reached in Lahore last night from Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the home department said that the authorities have decided to give free hand to Nawaz Sharif but he has not been permitted for holding a public meeting and rally.
Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other family members will be transported to home from the airport, a home department statement said. However, thousands of PML-N workers succeeded in arriving airport by crossing the barricades put up by police. On this occasion, the workers raised slogans both in favour of Nawaz Sharif and against the government.
Readers would remember from our prior posts that in August the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ruled that he could, in fact, return to Pakistan despite whatever ‘deal’ he had made with Gen. Musharraf at teh time of his original flight to Saudi Arabia. However, when he did return to the country in September, he was unceremoniously and dramatically deported back to Saudi Arabia with theatrics which rivaled his own attempts not to let Gen. Musharraf land in Pakistan many moons ago.
Now it turns out that he has made yet another ‘deal’ with Gen. Musharraf which has enabled his return.
It is not fully clear what the ‘terms’ of this deal are. Nor what the Musharraf-Nawaz Sharif deal mean
s for the earlier Musharraf-Benazir deal that had enabled her return some weeks back. Nor, in fact, is it clear what what his return (and the fact that now both Benazir and Nawaz Sharif are back in Pakistan) will mean for the future of Pakistan’s politics and the (supposed) forthcoming elections.
In despair, one even wonders if it means anything at all? Or is this just one more drama in the string of topi dramas that have come to define our distraught and fractured polity?
I have always wondered how the so called “population explosion” is one of the biggest problems Pakistan is facing. Economies rise on the back of rising populations and go down in the wake of shrinking populations, such as Japan and Germany.
Secondly, if that was really a problem, Pakistan’s fertility rate, number of children per woman, is going down fairly quickly. Its already down to 4.0. And soon it would start a steep decline as witnessed in other parts of the world, a prime example being Iran.
I am happy to see NS back in country.
The guy is not so smart but he has genuine following across the country. Also, he does seem to be playing to the local audiences unlike BB who seems always to be playing to the foreign galleries.
I do not mind tax evasions and siphoning off billions from public sector banks etc by the house of Sharif. Atleast the business empire setup by the Sharifs is productive, generates revenues and provides employment in Pakistan.
However, in case of BB, my main distaste comes from her husband’s international bribery and corruption that adds zero value and indicates a petty thief residing in the PM house.
To be fair to BB, there was always much more expected from her given her calibre and her political inheritence from ZAB’s grass roots / pro poor leftist party.
To give Musharraf his due credit, he has indeed served the country well apart from 2007. The economy has done well during his rein, although contribution from American funded billions worth war on terror and abscence of major crop failures during his eight years of tenure should also be considered.
But then there comes a time when its time to leave and Musharaff does not seem to understand that this is his time for a graceful exit. The longer he stays, the worst his legacy would be.
Coming back to NS’s return, the prospect of a tug of war between the politics of a pro poor PPP and a pro business PML-N is a positive development. Its time that the aberation of 12 October 99 coup is cleaned up and a fresh start can be made in the political landscape of Pakistan. You add the pre Nov 3rd judiciary to it and you have a picture perfect forward looking Pakistan.
There are serious structural problems in the state of Pakistan. Energy, water resources, economy, population explosion - there are tons of problems which require a stable and efficient government’s attention. Employment, health care, education, public safety and efficiency in public services - these are areas that should be the center of political debate. Religious fanatics and OBL likes need to take their ideas and tactics elsewhere.
It surely is a positive sign that the game is on once again.
The Americans have been skimmed enough billions for creating islamic fundamentalists (1980 - 1988) and for killing them for the same amount of time (2001 -2007), and I hope that our military has the sense that it is time to take a back seat and relax for a while.
Let the show begin - cannot wait for the election night marathon transmission on PTV.
Top 5 Reason Why NS is Best Bet
1) NS is Wildly influential and powerful leader in Punjab and commands the strongest electoral college in Pakistan
2) NS has the power to muster up the opposition forces like no one else
3) NS commands street power as shown yesterday at Lahore
4) If NS decides to run in the elections, he is likely to pull in the rest of the political opposition – including BB– with him
5) If NS chooses to stay away from the election, it would delegitimize the Elections
In times immeroial BB would be the darling of the West thanks to the coverage given to her in the international media. Then Musharraf emerged as one after 9/11. Now even Sharif has got a lot of international coverage of his return and has been on the main headlines of all the leading news channels and papers in the world. Perhaps now its his turn.
I think sometime in the future both JI and PTI would merge into the PML(N). It could take another ten years or so, I don’t know, but that seems to me the fate of these parties.
Justice Munir in his report regarding 1953 riots wrote that this nation has extremely “short” memory, whenever i see people supporting BB or NS, i have this revolting feeling, everybody agrees that they have looted pakistan instead of doing any good, still people say, give them another chance, i mean this nation will give someone another chance to rule themselves and make them suffer “once more”, WoW
Musharraf is a very strong man but still he has to bow his head before his two masters. When they make him an offer, he can not refuse. BB and NS do not have to make any direct deal with Musharraf. The return of BB was arranged by US with a promise of BB to participate in the general elections. Saudi Arabia (SA) has been trying to convince Mush to let NS be back to Pakistan. This news was already published in Newsweek (Nov. 5, 2007). During his recent visit Mush received the necessary instructions and blessings from Saudi King.
Now the stage is all set. The drama of election will take place. BB and NS will actively participate in the election in which the winner will be Musharraf. It is as simple as that.
This shows the interference of foreign govenmrnts into pakistan affairs…..BB returned due tom US and GB and nawazreturnes due to SA request. Now plitical party leaders in pakistan needs to build personal relations with goras and sheiks to rescue them in the time of need…even the iron man like mush can succum to the pressure of sheikhs…
now keep ur fingres crossed of what both BB and Nawaz will do in future….God bless Pakistan.