The fall of an empire?

Absolute power is like visual cancer that creates tunnel vision that impairs rational thinking, retards mental growth

It is a coup. It is local. It is international. This has been the ruling party’s main theme ever since they found out that the Panama Leaks will not fade with time. As Stephen Covey says “When you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem”. Political history is full of examples of how to distract and deflect public attention by loading it on opposition or sinister forces working against you. These are great diversionary techniques and do bear fruit in the short run but in the long run substance and sound content is required to ward off repercussions. Panamagate is a case where gates have started closing down on the prime minister. The reality is that these gates are closing not due to external factors but due to complacency.

Nawaz Sharif the only prime minister to have a third term is also the only prime minister who during this third term has almost the same allegations against him that led to his downfall in the earlier two terms. The only difference is that despite being removed from office he could not be convicted on corruption charges. In 1990 he became the beneficiary prime minister of his self-proclaimed mentor General Ziaul Haq’s legacy but as usual had a tough time in asserting power over President Ishaq Khan which finally led to his dismissal. He was reinstated by the court but preferred an establishment-brokered settlement that ensured the president lost his job too.

In the second term from 1997 to 1999 it was not power struggle with the president but with the army that led to his removal. His dream of being Amirul Momineen and massive economic bungling in the National Debt Retirement Plan, yellow cab scheme, sasti roti, etc, had created huge dents in his image. Nawaz Sharif’s refusal to accept anything but absolute power created the typical civil-military struggle where his hand-picked COAS General Pervez Musharraf staged a coup against him. However, despite multiple cases against him, the Saudis brokered a deal with the general to allow him to exit without accountability.



Old habits die hard, especially those that are unpunished. The tradition in this country has been that all political stakeholders exploited weaknesses of one another and abused their positions to assert power. The PML-N had successfully created two narratives over the last 30 years of being done in by destructive forces. The first defence was that they could not bring reforms in the country because their government did not last more than two years and the second defence was that the military and establishment were always conspiring against democratic governments.

What went wrong with this narrative the third time? In their third term, they are in their 5^th year of government and their logic of short circuited government is invalid. All reports show that despite an overwhelming majority they have failed to undertake any reforms in any sector be it energy or economy. Secondly, their so-called clash with the military narrative has lost its bite with General Bajwa’s low-key style and a very watered-down report and actions on Dawn Leaks.

Thus the conspiracy narrative is seeking new actors and new targets. Their age-old excuse that street protests are “undemocratic” derailing democracy and why is it not fought out in the courts is also not selling as the case is in the court for over a year. Thus they shifted the narrative to conspiracy by the Supreme Court. However when the mindset is of absolute control, tolerance or balance is not easy to maintain. Nehal Hashmi is an example of how this strategy became self-inflicting. His video is the most vile, venomous, vicious example of hate and threats to the judiciary and JIT for daring to question the prime minister and his children.

With the court taking action against Nehal Hashmi and asking for a script of speeches of other ministers the ruling party is now stuttering on whose shoulder to put the gun that is supposed to shoot the opposition. At present it is the opposition backed by some foreign powers conspiracy theory. Who those foreign powers are they are not willing to reveal. Is it ICIJ or Mossack Fonseca or Calibri or Wikipaedia or Jebal Ali, or Khaleej Times or Google or the British Virgin Islands is still not clear.

The real force conspiring against Nawaz Sharif is Nawaz Sharif. His addiction to power has been under court orders for not consulting cabinet, committees, parliament including the Senate. His obsession with himself and his immediate family has made him dismiss his parliamentarians, his workers, his extended family. The problem with absolute power is that it blinds and alienates you from within. The prime minister’s family is in trouble but the PML-N as a political party is at stake. For the billions now spilling out of multiple properties not a single piece of money trail is available despite tampering, removing, replacing, covering, changing and forging. By resigning he could have saved the party and maybe build up on his victimism appeal. But absolute power is like visual cancer that creates tunnel vision that impairs rational thinking and retards mental growth. And it is this functional, intellectual and political blindness that will finally ensure the fall of the Sharif empire.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2017.

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