Periscope on Pakistan

THE NATION: Mian Nawaz Sharif has done for the Opposition a favour which THE Opposition could not have done for itself. He has united them and given them a fresh lease of life. Only the Jamaat-e-Islami remains outside 8220;the Alliance8221;, determined to go solo in trying to remove the government in power. Only religious parties and regional ones like ANP and MQM have cadres that can face administrative power in the streets. How has the 8220;heavy mandate8221; like the one Nawaz Sharif obtained in 1997 approximately 8 million votes out of a population of 130 million, registered voters being 50 million come to grief in less than 18 months? Whatever crisis the PM now faces is of his own making. And while one can blame the economic ills the country faces on previous governments, notably that of Ms Bhutto who let her husband Asif Zardari run riot, the fact remains that inconsistent policies and lack of realcommitment have further eroded our economic infrastructure.

Sharif is ill served by his 8220;inner circle.8221; They cocoon him from objective criticism and if any does get to him, they lament the source as prejudiced and the facts as dubious. Not in the habit of reading newspapers and magazines, he relies on highlighted portions that are put up to him as summaries. No attempt is ever made to try to rectify a situation before it gets out of hand, and his 8220;inner circle8221; tends to blame disasters on others.

Shahbaz Sharif, who rules over Punjab as Chief Minister is a mere 8220;hands on8221; chief executive. As a troubleshooter, Shahbaz remains busy fending off crises for his elder brother. Unlike Ms Benazir who was served selflessly by only a handful, Mian Nawaz Sharif has exceedingly loyal political aides, among them Senator Sartaj Aziz, Raja Nadir Pervaiz, Lt Gen retd Majeed Malik, Ishaq Dar, Senators Pervaiz Rasheed and Khwaja Asif. He has lost some stalwarts like Begum Abida Hussain and Mian Azhar, and islikely to lose some others, sooner rather than later. As much as Asif Zardari was and remains Ms Benazir8217;s prime problem, Senator Saifur Rehman remains Nawaz Sharif8217;s Achilles heel. While Saif must be commended in his one act of cornering Ms Benazir on grounds of corruption, he thrives on the laurels of his one success.