Wishing Mian Sahib well – Pakistan

After verifying that former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was seriously ill and probably aware of the consequences of something happening to him, a government committed to the "responsibility" of all its political opponents seems to have lost its value.

This, for me, is the reason why Mr. Sharif has been allowed to travel abroad to receive treatment, despite a large number of explanations, mainly conjectures, circulating between the talk classes and in the cash desk. Idiots through the usual suspects: analysts and presenters, who say they are well informed.

Even when talking about an & # 39; agreement & # 39; which apparently resulted in the decision, the details of what constituted the giving and receiving vital to any agreement are evident from its absence, apart from, of course, the fact that Nawaz Sharif probably left these coasts before the start of the new week.

The "agreement" theorists suggest that Maryam Nawaz will accompany her father on his journey. What is not clear is how he will travel abroad, since he handed in his passport by order of the Lahore High Court that granted him the bond last Monday.

Any observer would have said that the ruling party and its key officials were ruthless and lacked humanity.

In order for him to travel, the court will have to review his bail conditions and, while these lines are being written, Nawaz has not even requested the return of his passport. Although it may not be impossible, it does not seem likely in the time available before his father leaves.

"Mian Sahib and Maryam Bibi did not return to Pakistan when they faced imprisonment even though Kulsoom Nawaz Sahiba was on his deathbed to reach an agreement now. Receiving the best deal is his right; in return nothing has been offered," a source close to the leadership of PML-N told me.

At the end of July, just over three months ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan told several thousand supporters in the Washington, DC area that he would take Mr. Sharif's air conditioner, refrigerator and other facilities out.

Just a week ago, NAB laws were amended by a presidential ordinance to make class "C" mandatory in prison for those facing corruption charges involving more than Rs50 million, a measure that seemed to point to Nawaz Sharif and others opposition leaders.

Government ministers and special assistants who are said to speak for the prime minister almost mocked the critical leader of PML-N, vilified him and suggested that he was really not so bad and "acted" to get relief, even when he was lying very sick at the Lahore Services Hospital.

Any observer who observed this would have said that the ruling party and its key officials were ruthless and lacked humanity. After all, it was his revenge that took Nawaz Sharif's health to such a critical step where his life was now in danger.

Anyone who gave the benefit of the doubt to the PTI government and the prime minister would have believed that he had no idea of ​​the seriousness of Mr. Sharif's condition and, therefore, would treat his illness like any other political game in which everything Kind of accusatory statements were edible under Jewish law.

A source told me that there was panic in the hierarchy of the PTI government when they found out through someone they considered reliable that the former prime minister was seriously ill and showed no signs of improvement. The smallest of crises could take his life, they were told unequivocally.

This was when Shahbaz Sharif was informed that if the family wanted, and his doctors advised him, the government would have no problem if his older brother was taken abroad for treatment. By then, it was clear that the government wanted Sharif to leave sooner rather than later.

He realized that "NRO" teasing and disappointment among supporters who had been prepared for blood was one thing; Something that happened to the leader of the PML-N, when the public is full of anger due to economic difficulties, was something else, since it would be like lighting a tinder box.

One fervently wants Nawaz Sharif to respond to treatment and quickly recover his health. Everything else is secondary. The elder brother's illness has allowed Shahbaz Sharif's opinion to prevail within the PML-N, as the party seems to have softened its confrontational stance.

While in parliament, PML-N lawmakers did not give the government headquarters, the party stayed away from the Azadi March of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. It seems increasingly unlikely to reconsider that decision, particularly during the absence of the Sharif brothers.

If Maryam Nawaz joined them, then any street turmoil would be off the table. However, if I cannot go abroad, a source told me that I would participate in politics. In any case, she will be aware of the impact of her decision on her father's political legacy. Who knows if the decision on the sitting of Azadi March could also be reviewed?

Permission to allow the former prime minister to receive the expert medical attention he urgently needs has caused speculation that this "temporary departure" will prove to be the first of many steps to unravel the system.

Politics may be the art of the impossible, but political wisdom is proving to be a major challenge. The most connected analysts are unable to identify the drivers of Maulana's protest at this stage when the PML-N and the PPP begged him to wait a few months.

Even those who say that he is now looking for a way out that saves his face after his PML-N and PPP allies have let him fend for himself, acknowledge that his open criticism of key institutions may have put the latter in the background. Others insist that there is a method to their madness; His agitation is not over and all its consequences have not yet arisen.

Connecting all the points that one can at the moment may not paint the entire image. However, what can be seen is that if government delivery remains as sad as it is today and public discontent deepens, the status quo can be a shock.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@gmail.com

Posted in Dawn, November 10, 2019