Sharif’s PML-N snaps back at top court

Says ‘bandits’ ruled under ‘doctrine of necessity’; calls language in SC verdict ‘not up to judicial...

ISLAMABAD: An awful example of prejudice, bigotry, anger and provocation. This is how a PML-N news release described the apex court’s decision against review petitions filed by deposed premier Nawaz Sharif and his family.

It also accuses the bench of attempting to influence subordinate courts through the judgment. “The language used in the detailed verdict was also not up to the judicial standards,” said the communiqué.

Lambasting the wordings of the verdict, which used Urdu poetry to describe how the country was looted by ‘rulers’, the statement said three-time prime minister Sharif ’s struggle for the supreme judiciary was written in history. The release also claimed credit for the PML-N in making Pakistan a nuclear power.

“Therefore, it’s not a question of rulers, but justice.”

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It also referred to questionable judgments issued under the ‘doctrine of necessity’ that allowed ‘bandits’ to rule the country as being the reason for damage to the state. It added that civilian rulers readily appearing before courts and presenting themselves for accountability.

Infighting

The statement was released on a day when Sharif Wednesday returned to Islamabad after a day of low-key consultations on crucial issues with the PML-N brass in Murree. He had quietly visited the hill resort a day earlier, and it appears that he made a concerted effort to avoid meeting members of the party’s ‘Shehbaz camp’ there.

Moreover, in the aftermath of the issuance of the Supreme Court’s detailed verdict on the Panama Papers case, the former prime minister is said to be in no mood to mend his ways and give up hostility as he strongly criticised the Supreme Court’s judges on Wednesday.

Far removed from the media glare, Sharif landed in Murree on Tuesday evening amid reports that he was going to hold an important meeting there with his younger brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

But no meeting took place.

Publicly, the visit was a family trip that Nawaz had been planning for a while, but insiders said the visit had significant political dimensions. Sources close to Sharif confirmed to The Express Tribune that Hamza Shehbaz, the son of the Punjab CM, was also in Murree to attend a function on Tuesday but the ex-premier did not meet him.

Then on Wednesday, Shehbaz said in Lahore that his elder brother was the chief of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz and “whatever decisions he takes would be acceptable.”



However, regardless of the public statements, all is not well within the ruling camp since Sharif was advised by his aides to come to Murree to meet his younger brother and bridge their ‘communication gap’, according to knowledgeable quarters. Shehbaz was expected to attend, but sensing the “hostile” mood of the ex-premier, the plan was cancelled, the insiders said

Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, however, denied that the CM Punjab had any plans to visit Murree on Tuesday. The PML-N chief, he said, visits Murree frequently to spend private time with his family. “There is nothing political about it. [Nawaz] frequently visited Murree even when he was the PM and seldom would [Shehbaz] accompany him. Any talk about a rift between the brothers is just rubbish and does not even merit comment,” he told The Express Tribune.

Sources said Sharif has again been advised to avoid confrontation with state institutions, as the policy has created problems for him and his party. But the PML-N chief is said to be unhappy with the SC’s detailed verdict on his rejected review petitions. The court had declared that the former PM tried to fool the people, Parliament, and the court in the Panama Papers case.



“He (Sharif) tried to fool the people inside and outside Parliament. He even tried to fool the court without realising that ‘you can fool all the people for some of the time, some of the people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time’. Refuge in evasive, equivocal and non-committal replies does not always help,” says the 23-page judgment.

Sharif chaired a party huddle Wednesday which issued a statement to reject the top court’s related remarks made in the judgment.

Senior party leaders believe that Sharif is attracting the annoyance of the judiciary at a time when crucial cases are pending against him in the courts. Sharif’s elevation as party chief has also been challenged in the Supreme Court by Imran Khan, and the former PM has been urged to be cautious while commenting on the superior courts and not to publically comment on the apex court’s judgment.

Apart from internal party differences and pending cases against him, Sharif is also said to be concerned by other political parties, especially Pakistan People’s Party’s opposition to legislate on delimitation in light of the 2017 census. On Monday, Nawaz directed PM Abbasi to take up the matter with political parties in his capacity as leader of the house in the NA as well as head of PML-N’s parliamentary party, sources said. Abbasi has reportedly been directed to ensure full attendance of PML-N and other ‘likeminded’ lawmakers during the related NA session since the passage of the delimitation bill requires a two-thirds majority.

Insiders said Sharif wanted a National Assembly’s session to be called on Thursday (today) for the passage of the related bill, which would then require the Senate’s nod not before Friday, November 10 – the cutoff date given by the Election Commission of Pakistan to carry out the legislation necessary to conduct the general elections on time.

Nawaz’s next visit will depend entirely on Kulsoom Nawaz’s health, Senator Asif Ali Kiramani said. Later in the day, Nawaz returned to Lahore on a special plane. He is now expected to hold a series of meetings with senior party leaders in Lahore.