PML-N unveils its Plan B for Nawaz

If there are legal hurdles impeding former premier Nawaz Sharif’s accession to the Prime Minister’s Office for a fourth term, the PML-N will remove them after coming into power, Rana Sanaullah, the party’s Punjab president, on Saturday said.

With a stop-gap arrangement in mind, the PML-N seems to have prepared a plan B for ensuring that its supremo becomes the premier for the fourth time.

Earlier, the party remained confident that there would be no legal impediments for its supremo to become the premier yet again, and given the kind of the concessions doled out to Nawaz, it appeared to be a likely possibility.

However, Sanaullah’s admission of a plan B has revealed that party might not be all that confident about the prospects of the court cases against Nawaz.

Although when asked, Sanaullah said the party hoped that “frivolous” cases against its supremo must be heard expeditiously and decisions should be delivered at the earliest. He added that if there were any hurdles, the party’s decision about Nawaz becoming the premier would still remain unchanged.

To a question about any strategy to avoid confrontation with the ‘powerful circles’ to ensure Nawaz completed his fourth term as the PM, the PML-N Punjab chief maintained that the party never had any issue with them in past as well.

He pointed out that the PTI’s sit-in was organised in 2014 -- six months after Nawaz took over as the premier.
“What he [Nawaz] could have done to have an issue with them [power circles] in that time?” he asked.

To a query about the demand for accountability, Sanaullah replied that his party too believed in that however it would first bring the country back on track economically. “We will pursue the accountability drive later,” he added.

Read Saad Rafique asks Bilawal to show 'courage'

To a question about the PTI, the former interior minister said he believed that if those responsible for the 9 May violence this year -- similar to Balochistan’s militants who surrendered their arms and reposed their faith in Pakistan – confessed to their crimes and apologised, then their pardon must be considered.

“Even the people of Pakistan will forgive them if they confess to their crimes,” he continued.

Speaking on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s criticism, the PML-N stalwart claimed as long as the disapproval remained within the boundaries of decency, his party would respect it. He added that the PML-N recognised the right of all political parties to present their case before their voters, terming Bilawal’s criticism of the party as part of his election “antics”.

On the PML-N’s preparations for the next general elections, Sanaullah said as per his party’s analysis, it would secure 120 to 125 of the 141 seats in the National Assembly from Punjab. He added that the party was lagging behind by around 20 seats.

He said given this scenario, the PML-N was confident that it would form a government with a simple majority.

However, he clarified that despite his party being in the majority, Nawaz would still take along all political parties.
On the reports of infighting in the PML-N, Sanaullah said there were issues in only 15% to 20% of the total constituencies and that was unlikely to complicate the matters for the party.

He explained that the PML-N’s expectations were based on the surveys it had conducted and findings of the firms it had hired for this purpose. He said in southern Punjab, the PML-N was in a position to bag 35 of the 46 total seats there.

The PML-N leader also defended the politics of electables. He said being an electable meant commanding the respect and trust of a constituency’s people.