Sweet talk: Nawaz loyalists unhappy with an amiable Shehbaz

Detractors say Punjab CM’s policy of unity among state institutions will hurt party, Sharif

LAHORE: Barely a few weeks have passed since Shehbaz Sharif took the reins of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, voices of dissent over his policies and style of leadership have started filling the air.

Party sources considered close to Nawaz Sharif claim that Shehbaz, with his narrative of unity among the state institutions, is actually damaging the stance of “our party” and also undermining the position taken by his elder brother.

The sources say that Shehbaz is under “some delusion” that if he became prime minister, he will be able to “handle matters smoothly". The sources, one of them a sitting minister, say that Shehbaz would soon realise that he is at fault.

A source told The Express Tribune that if there was a way of co-existence with state institutions, Nawaz would have found it because he had been prime minister thrice.

Speaking about Sharif’s tirade against the establishment, the sources explained that Sharif’s narrative was not about demeaning any state institution but about respect for parliament and the sanctity of votes.

According to the sources, back-to-back statements by Shehbaz, the chief minister of Punjab, about harmony among the state situations are seen as a direct contradiction to Sharif’s statements.

One of the sources said that Shehbaz would soon realise that he was at fault with his narrative and that he might soon stand in the same line as Nawaz, demanding supremacy of the democracy. “Shehbaz and his camp are afflicting a great deal of damage to the party’s policy line,” he said.



Since his disqualification by the Supreme Court on July 28 last year, Nawaz and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, along with a number of ministers, continue with their tirade against the state institutions, criticising them for undermining and humiliating the democratic system of the country.

But in contrast, Shehbaz has avoided criticism of the establishment or the judiciary. And most of those in his camp also tow the same line.

Shehbaz also abstained from criticising state institutions when his blue-eyed bureaucrat was arrested by the National Accountability Court (NAB) on charges of corruption. Even so, when the Punjab government officially criticised NAB, the chief minister spoke about respecting the authority and mandate of the institutions.

A spokesman for the Punjab government told The Express Tribune that they did not believe in criticism of state institutions. “We do not believe in criticising our institutions, these state institutions are our institutions,” Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan said.



“We do not deny the existence of several flaws within our system,” the Punjab government spokesman said, adding that because of these problems no political government could ever have the smooth sailing.

“The solution to that problem is not to criticise the state institutions,” Khan stressed.  “We should all sit together and devise and revise the rules of business, the rules to ensure co-existence,” he added.

"We in Punjab share the same opinion as in Islamabad, that Nawaz’s disqualification was unjust and unfair. But confronting the state institutions is not the way forward.”

He said that the priority is to ensure stability in the country. “Infighting will only result in more capital flight from the country.”