Party-Establishment Relations
LAHORE: On Thursday, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif returned from London, reportedly after successfully convincing his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, “not to disrupt the party’s favorable relationship with the establishment.”
Within 48 hours of his arrival in the country, Shehbaz had to hastily return to London in response to Nawaz’s forceful speech on September 18. In the speech, Nawaz called for accountability of former generals and judges allegedly involved in overthrowing his government in 2017.
Nawaz’s demand for stringent accountability had put many party leaders, particularly Shehbaz, in a delicate situation, as they feared potential repercussions from the powers that be if Nawaz persisted with such statements.
Nawaz’s accountability demands worry PML-N leaders
Several party leaders, including Rana Sanaullah, Javed Latif, Khurram Dastgir, Irfan Siddiqui, and Muhammad Zubair, recently indicated that the party had decided to no longer pursue accountability for former army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI head retired Lt Gen Faiz Hamid.
Instead, the party would shift its focus to addressing Pakistan’s current economic and other challenges. Upon his return on Thursday, Shehbaz approved a party proposal to hold public meetings in the constituencies of Nawaz, himself, and his son Hamza in Lahore before Nawaz’s arrival,” a party leader informed Dawn.
He further explained that these rallies would commence on October 1, with Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the party’s chief organizer, leading them to build momentum leading up to Nawaz’s arrival at Minar-i-Pakistan on October 21.
The PML-N has stated that he will apply for protective bail before returning to the country.
However, the party has yet to confirm whether he will surrender in the Al-Azizia Mills case conviction or seek relief in it as well, as Mr. Nawaz had been declared an absconder. Overall, PML-N peserves party-establishment relations.
