ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is remarkably reconciliatory this time compared to his previous stints in government, which were marked by high-pitched political confrontation and strife.
After assuming the top office two months back, he stopped finding fault with his political rivals and is apparently more concerned with having understanding, rapprochement and a working relationship with them. This is a good change if it is real and genuine, and is not out of compulsion or due to expediency. The prime minister, flanked by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chief Minister in Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad during his maiden visit to Karachi after taking up the present responsibility was indeed a good sight to watch. It was rare and appeared unusual for a while.
Then, Sharif’s statement to respect the public mandate of the MQM and other political parties was impressive and convincing.
Has Nawaz Sharif travelled a lot from his past?
Or is it political pressure due to the split mandate thrown up by the May 11 general election that put the PPP in power in Sindh again and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and made the MQM a force to be reckoned with once again?
Only because of the PPP government in Sindh, the prime minister took some two months after getting the top position to undertake his first visit to Karachi. This was exceptional that a prime minister would take such a long time.
However, Nawaz Sharif went to Karachi only after some kind of confidence was instilled in the PPP and MQM about his style of government and strategy to take every stakeholder along. But he is yet to visit Peshawar or any other area of KPK where Imran Khan team rules. Was it a coincidence or something else that the PPP silenced its guns that it was using with force disputing the legitimacy of the July 30 presidential election even before Nawaz Sharif visited Karachi?
But despite its rejection of this electoral process, President Asif Ali Zardari formally congratulated Mamnoon Hussain on his success in the presidential poll, which was in clash with the PPP’s stand that it doesn’t accept the newly elected head of state as president.
Although the prime minister has always treated the PPP and PTI as his principal political adversaries and had had extremely serious reservations against the MQM, he not only expressed his willingness in words but acted practically to work in unison with both where it is essentially required.
Internews
