Nawaz has now done his last flip flop and fallen right in line with Musharraf agenda.
Nawaz Sharif’s flip-flops
Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad
**Mian Nawaz Sharif’s flip-flops have deprived him of the moral high ground he **had claimed for doing ‘principled politics’. What is at stake is his credibility as a politician. The latest example is the sudden about turn on the issue of the participation in elections. The foremost proponents of the boycott has changed course by 180 degree and announced his party was going to fight the elections. He has thus left a number of allies in the lurch. At the APDM meeting on Nov 29 Mian Nawaz Sharif was the first to denounce the forthcoming elections. He told the leaders of the component parties that his second return to Pakistan was not the outcome of any compromise and that he still adhered to the stand that the PML-N would not to take part in the elections till the reinstatement of the judges removed after November 3. The elections which were being held by an unconstitutional government must be boycotted, he said. Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the alliance’s meeting he declared, “We have one point agenda and we will not compromise on it at any cost. We will boycott the sham elections.”
What made Mian Nawaz Sharif change his mind within ten days remains a subject of debate but the immediate consequence of his volte-face was the break up of the APDM. The parties in the smaller provinces who were gravitating towards him on account of his anti-Musharraf rhetoric were taken aback. So were Imran Khan’s PTI and JI. In a meeting held on Monday those rejecting the elections replaced Mian Nawaz Sharif with Achakzai as the head of whatever was left of the APDM. With Mian Nawaz Sharif deciding to go for the polls without the fulfilment of his oft-stated precondition, the lawyers’ struggle has received a set back. The movement has lost perspective and is likely to split in days to come. The promise to rehabilitate the judges through the parliament is altogether empty because of the majority that the erstwhile ruling coalition still enjoys in the Senate. With the election campaign picking up as a result of both the mainstream parties putting heart and soul in it, the lawyers’ protest are likely to be drowned in the noise and tumult to be created by the election related activities and the reports of the lawyers rallies would go to the inside pages of the newspapers.
There is a widespread perception that the US and its western allies have prepared the script for the elections. The elections have to be peaceful and orderly and lead to a political set up that can help Washington pursue its ongoing war on terror. Whatever the reservations of the political parties, President Musharraf who is considered by Washington a loyal US ally is to remain in power albeit without uniform. The political parties are required to stick to the rules of the game determined by Washington. There are two types of politicians now. Those who know that the US and its western allies want a peaceful transition and have reconciled to it after getting assurances that their interests would be looked after. Ms Bhutto, Fazlur Rehman and Asfandyar Wali belong to this category. They have all along pursued the aim of winning the maximum number of seats single-mindedly without letting any issue including that of the reinstatement of the deposed judges blur their vision. There are others who refuse to go by the US diktat. Mian Nawaz Sharif has either taken longer to understand the game plan or has dithered for quite some time to take the decision. In the meanwhile his statements have generated expectations that he is now unwilling to fulfil. He is thus liable to be accused of being indecisive or fickle-minded, qualities that are not expected to characterise the leader of a major party.
This is in fact the second about turn Nawaz has taken within the last few months. Before his first aborted attempt to return to Pakistan he had clearly and repeatedly stated that he and his party would never contest elections under President Musharraf irrespective of whether he was in uniform or in mufti. His three-point strategy comprised a movement leading to the overthrow of Musharraf, formation of a government of national consensus with representation from all major parties and finally elections under the consensus set up. Soon after Nawaz’s second and successful return in a Saudi royal plane with a bullet-proof car gifted by King Abdullah, the strategy changed without any explanation. Now the rhetoric against Musharraf was toned down while the demand for his prior ouster was altogether withdrawn, He however insisted on the instatement of the judges. The APDM should have marked the sudden change before putting faith in his call for the boycott. If Nawaz was to finally do what Benazir was already doing, what was the need to leave the ARD and cause splits in the APDM and MMA?