ISLAMABAD: There was a time when Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari were comrades within the framework of “Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy”. But today they are at odds, with Sharif ready to stake his political career by throwing his weight behind the proposed lawyers’ march.
It was all hunky-dory between these two politicians when democracy was restored on Feb. 18, 2008, with Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party bagging the highest number of National Assembly seats and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) ending up as runner-up with a majority only in Pakistan’s biggest province of Punjab.
The PML (N) formed the provincial government with his brother, Shahbaz, the chief minister of Punjab, but Nawaz and his party after a short honeymoon with the PPP at the federal level withdrew support for the PPP-led alliance.
Politics in Pakistan has never been stable. And it remains unstable after Zardari managed to forge a coalition with Awami National Party of Aswandyar Wali Khan, Muttahida Qaumi Movement of Altaf Hussain, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Baloch nationalist groupings.
Rumblings within the government continued with Zardari standing exposed on several accounts. He did not honor his party’s commitment of restoring the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, and remains vulnerable in chasing Musharraf-designed policies.
He also sought to set up his own brand of PPP, whose mantle he inherited after his popular wife Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, and more importantly has failed to invalidate the 17th Constitutional Amendment which empowers presidency vis-à-vis prime minister’s office.
Zardari has also exposed the country to secret deals with the United States that were originally forged by Pervez Musharraf and is facing mounting economic and social issues. His handling of foreign affairs has also come under sharp criticism from the media.
But what has got Sharif back in the battling mode has been Zardari’s approach toward freedom of judiciary. It was Zardari’s attempt to oust PPP’s stalwart Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan from the CEC of the party, which was unpopular within the rank and file of PPP, that provided the spark for Sharif to act.
Sharif hit back in a classic manner when on Friday night he put his party’s weight behind the ongoing lawyers’ movement.
Ready to give up the Punjab government, Sharif’s action of participating in the lawyers’ protest march and sit-in before the Parliament building on March 16 could affect the Zardari-led government.
Addressing a press conference flanked by Ahsan, former president of All-Pakistan Bar Association, and current president of All-Pakistan Bar Association Ali Kurd, Sharif said: “We have decided to take part in the lawyer’s long march and sit-in.” Sharif vowed to go one step further than the long march and sit-in if it is necessary to restore the judiciary.
