‘Those whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make mad’. With so many past shenanigans to his credit the national hope was that the elder Sharif would have learnt some lessons. After all he evolved the hare brained yellow cab scheme and those cabs are still visible on the streets of Kabul; he and his party men did the Islamic Bomb Triumphal Dance after testing the nuclear bomb sending disastrous signals around the world; he gleefully accepted the resignation of an Army Chief who had supported him and would have continued to support him--just because he could not understand what he was being told; he ignored the Army’s seniority list to appoint an Army Chief who jailed him; he never realized the implications of Kargil and when it exploded in his face he followed a convoluted and farcical process of changing the Army Chief thereby setting in motion events that were to have far reaching consequences for the country. In between he had a confrontation with the Chief Justice of Pakistan and allowed his party men to storm the Supreme Court providing the world with unforgettable video coverage. He also had a confrontation with a President who had conducted the elections that brought him to power and who had surrendered his powers in the interest of democracy---he then brought in his own man as the President thereby setting a disastrous precedence. He was about to legislate Sharia Law and declare himself the Amir ul Momineen (Commander of the Faithful) when fate intervened to save the nation. Has he learnt a lesson? Not a chance.
The Brothers Sharif continue on their merry way oblivious of the internal and external environment and their responsibility as the opposition. They joined the Federation but opted out. The settled for Punjab but got saddled with a Governor who needles them mercilessly keeping their minions hopping mad. The younger bro exploded the myth of his sensibility by bringing in a team that could not deliver and then proceeded to appeal to the Taleban to spare his province –Punjab. When the media and the nation hauled him over the coals for this he committed political hara-kiri by running to the Army Chief to explain his lapse. As Chief Minister he inexplicably did not attend the historic parliamentary session for the 18th Amendment—an amendment for which his party had worked tirelessly.
Not to be outdone on the hara-kiri track the elder bro put a spanner in the 18th Amendment works thereby astonishing the entire nation. He gave in when Khyber was appended to the Pakhtunkhwa name—an achievement that no one understands and many resent. Still not satisfied he committed hara-kiri again by also not attending the Joint Parliamentary session and the President’s address.
So what happens now? The government is set to complete its tenure. The Brothers Sharif are lined up behind the Chief Justice of Pakistan thereby unnecessarily politicizing him—something he could do without. They bask in the attention given to them by visiting dignitaries and think their home base Jati Umra is a power base. It is not because power does not reside in spaces---it resides in people with vision and national interest at heart. The opposition needs to form a shadow government. It needs thinking people and besides criticizing it needs to suggest alternatives to government policies and support those steps and policies that take the nation forward. This is no time for confrontations and petty rivalries. The only institution that understands this is the military and that is why it is working with the government in the national interest.
