Divided they fall

Differences of opinion and groupings within political parties are natural, and often considered healthy, but sometimes friction escalates to  a level where it becomes damaging  – a situation which the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is facing these days.

Like the majority of the country’s political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) is not a disciplined political party, with most of the party decisions being personality-centric and no proper mechanism for running  party affairs in an orderly manner.

Sources in the party informed Bol News that there are three major! and some smaller groups in the party which are increasingly coming in direct conflict with the major party decisions emanating from London. Party Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif’s long absence from the country has further pushed the party into indiscipline, with party leaders sometimes seen flouting even the decisions of the party’s top brass, said the sources.

Party spokespersons and senior party leaders however deny any  grouping in the party, and maintain that while differences of opinion do exist, once a decision is taken on a matter, all the party leaders and workers follow it.

There is a strong and powerful group in the party led by Maryam Nawaz Sharif comprising leaders with hawkish tendencies, who are averse to any sort of negotiations with the establishment. The group has built its narrative on ‘vote ko izzat do’ (respect the public mandate) coined by party chief Nawaz Sharif when he was ousted from power by the apex court, which he dubbed a conspiracy against him.

The leaders in this group want complete civil supremacy with no meddling by any institution in political affairs. They want to see all the state institutions working in their own defined constitutional ambit and they often express scathing criticism of the establishment like their leader Nawaz Sharif, who has even levelled allegations against the army generals for meddling in political affairs. Until recently, this group largely dominated party policies, because it enjoyed Nawaz Sharif’s patronage.

Such an anti-establishment hardline does not, however, sit well with the majority of the PML-N leaders and workers who have had a long history of working in close coordination with state institutions. Some party members with this line of thought have coalesced into another group, under the patronage of party president Shahbaz Sharif, who is against confrontational politics and wants to sail along with the establishment. Right now this group  is in full command of party matters.

PML-N sources informed Bol News that after much concerted effort, Shahbaz Sharif has finally convinced his elder brother to stop taking such a hard line against the establishment, and asked that he be allowed to settle affairs by adopting a conciliatory course since confrontation is not in the party’s interest and will only add to their problems.

It was due to this understanding between the two brothers that the hawks in the party were directed to hold their horses. That is the reason PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz Sharif and those considered close to her have been seen  observing a virtual silence of late.

Although Maryam Nawaz Sharif was part of the consultations and meetings between the opposition parties held recently in connection with materialising a no-trust move against the government, she has been avoiding the media, only issuing calculated and guarded statements when needed, avoiding controversy.

While the hawks in the party are averse to the steps being taken by the group led by Shahbaz Sharif, they have stepped back because  Shahbaz Sharif now has the complete support and backing of party supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.

Interestingly, some political observers are of the view that while Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother seemed to be treading different paths, they actually always worked in complete harmony. PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif has never taken any decision without the approval and assent of his elder brother, said a senior PML-N leader.

Political analysts say it is not the first time that Mian Nawaz Sharif has given  Shahbaz Sharif a chance to mend fences with the establishment, but the past three or four attempts made by Shahbaz Sharif in this regard came to nought.

And while the hawks have been silenced due Mian Nawaz Sharif’s intervention, in a bid to give the politics of conciliation a chance, if the doves led by Shahbaz Sharif fail to yield results, the hawks will almost certainly again dominate their party’s politics, with Maryam Nawaz  in the driving seat.

Meanwhile, a sizeable number of PML-N parliamentarians have also not been comfortable with Nawaz Sharif’s establishment bashing. People like former foreign minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif, Rana Tanvir, Chaudhry Birjees Tahir and many others believe that the PML-N should avoid direct confrontation with the military establishment and name-calling by Nawaz Sharif only damages the party.

These leaders have sidelined themselves from party politics, avoided taking part in party activities against Imran Khan and the PTI government, and have abstained from involvement with the PDM.

There is also another group in the party which is averse to the politics of confrontation, but simultaneously does not want to see the party entering into any sort of alliance with their main rival, the Pakistan People’s Party. This group, mainly concentrated in the central and south Punjab districts, was also annoyed with the party for making commitments with PTI dissident parliamentarians about party tickets for the next general elections in lieu of their support for a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Meanwhile, a former PML-N MNA from central Punjab, who did not want to disclose his identity, said that the PTI MNA from the area was in constant contact with the PML-N, asking for a party ticket for the next general elections. If the party leadership accepted his demand, he wondered, where would he stand?

He added that this was not the case with him alone. In a number of constituencies PML-N candidates were facing a similar situation and this was not acceptable to them as it would only damage and weaken the party, because the turncoats the party would be accepting now for petty gains, would surely ditch them in difficult times.

Party insiders informed Bol News that PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif had given a number of PTI dissidents the assurance of party tickets in the next general elections in lieu of their support in bringing down the PTI government. This, they said, had disturbed party leaders and activists in those constituencies who had stood by the party in difficult times and expected the party to stand with them now.