Is Nawaz really a threat to democracy?

News Analysis |

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders have accused ousted Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif of attempting to derail democracy. PPP senior leaders criticized Nawaz for targeting state institutions but warned that PPP would not let him succeed.

Senior leaders of the party including former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, Provincial General Secretary Sindh Waqar Mehdi and PPP Central Information Secretary Nafisa Shah said in a joint statement that Nawaz is interested in disrupting the democratic process so that the investigations against his corruption of billions of rupees are halted.

Zardari looks to make a comeback in Punjab, PML-N is trying to drive a counter strategy to contain Zardari’s aggression and counter him by using the same language in Sindh, highlighting the failures of PPP government. 

Commenting on Nawaz’s recent tirade against the judiciary, former PPP Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf commented on the duplicity in Nawaz’s stance against the judiciary. ‘If the court delivers the verdict favoring Nawaz, he has no problem with it but, if the verdict comes against him, courts get blamed for running a designed conspiracy against him,’ he remarked.  

Read more: Nawaz delivers speech about the future of democracy in Pakistan

PPP also condemned Nawaz of his hypocrisy saying that he [Nawaz] was part of broader conspiracies to topple the previous democratically elected government of PPP. They also recapped for the media the earlier tenure of the PML-N government (1997-99) in which attacks on the Supreme Court and illegal imprisonment of journalists took place.   

The ex-Prime Minister asked ‘what is Nawaz’s real agenda, as he [Nawaz] continues to hurl abuses at the state institutions to save his mammoth wealth earned through illegal means.’ While continuing to loathe Sharif for his recent antics against the judiciary, Ashraf said, we will wipe out the PML-N in the next general elections. 

Last month Zardari collaborated with other opposition parties to support the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri’s demonstration against the government for its alleged involvement in Model Town.  

Dr. Nafisa Shah also lamented Sharif for playing a double game. She said, Nawaz is campaigning vigorously to uphold democratic traditions, but, ironically, he is the same person, who wanted to amend the constitution to kick start dynastic politics in Pakistan after becoming Amir ul Momineen. The PPP stalwarts condemned Nawaz for trying to playing opposition politics when his party was in power.

At the same time, in a rare two-day visit to Karachi, Nawaz addressed his party workers and lamented the PPP for its dismal performance in Sindh, where he said it has failed to improve basic problems such as the education system, unemployment, and transportation system and failed to provide adequately for Sindh people’s necessities of life. Nawaz particularly addressed the lack of opportunities for the young people in the province and promised to drastically improve the appalling situation given a chance.

Read more: Involving establishment in politics is unsafe for democracy

The senior leadership of PML-N including Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair, Minister for Climate Change Senator Mushahidullah Khan, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo and Abid Sheer Ali, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Railways Minister Saad Rafique, and former information minister Pervaiz Rashid also took part in the meetings to discuss the election strategy in Sindh. 

They also recapped for the media the earlier tenure of the PML-N government (1997-99) in which attacks on the Supreme Court and illegal imprisonment of journalists took place.   

Another PPP leader mocked Sharif saying, ‘there were more federal ministers and leaders in Karachi to welcome Sharif than supporters of his party.’ He also asserted Nawaz spent millions to gather supporters but had to face disappointment and humiliation as still no one turned up to support him. 

Read more: End of Charter of Democracy?

Nawaz Sharif and his senior leaders are countering Zardari’s advances in Punjab where he is looking to transform Pakistan People Party (PPP) fortunes, which currently seem non-existent in the province. Last month Zardari collaborated with other opposition parties to support the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri’s demonstration against the government for its alleged involvement in Model Town.  

Zardari had also unleashed verbal attacks on the incompetency of the government. Both the parties have exchanged heated blows recently. Zardari looks to make a comeback in Punjab, PML-N is trying to drive a counter strategy to contain Zardari’s aggression and counter him by using the same language in Sindh, highlighting the failures of PPP government.