Unfazed Nawaz leaves for Maldives today

To attend the country’s Independence Day celebrations as chief guest

ISLAMABAD: Unfazed by the Panamagate-linked problems at home, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is leaving abroad on a three-day-long tour on Tuesday (today).

The move is seen as a push to assert that the beleaguered prime minister is still in control of the government and calls the shots in all key affairs, including the crucial foreign policy matters.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister House, Nawaz will visit the Maldives from July 25-27 on the invitation of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom to act as chief guest during the country’s 52nd Independence Day celebrations, starting on Wednesday (tomorrow).



Sources in the PM House said that Nawaz initially decided to postpone the scheduled visit to the Maldives because of political challenges at home. However, after consultations with his close aides as well as Foreign Office officials, he decided to go ahead with the visit.

“This serves two motives,” commented a government official, requesting anonymity.

“Back home, going ahead with such a visit in the face of crisis is aimed at conveying a message across that he is still in business. And on the diplomatic front, this move is directed to convey to the foreign powers that Pakistan’s PM, who may have been dented politically, is still relevant.”

Sigh of relief in ruling camp

The drama surrounding Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar’s eagerly-awaited press conference took an interesting turn on Monday when the minister made a brief media appearance only to condemn the Lahore terrorist attack and left without answering questions from journalists.



According to sources, the development brought relief in the ruling party camp given that Nisar was expected to go for a hard-hitting presser to slam his party’s high command for ‘mishandling’ the Panamagate case.

Some reports had also suggested that Nisar would announce his resignation from his post, but he denied all such reports.

The PM had assigned Shehbaz Sharif and Raja Zafarul Haq the task to pacify Nisar and persuade him not to address the press conference, according to reports.

The press briefing was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday but was postponed by the interior minister, reasoning that Nisar was having an acute backache.

Some party sources believe that the PML-N leadership’s move to bypass Nisar while considering names of candidates for premiership in case of an in-house change has not gone down well with the minister.