Normally I am no fan of Saleem Safi but this article represents a common sentiment . The musharaf era proshia regime , then Zardari's similar one and now Nawaz sharif tilt towards west and Iran and trying to make way for his daughter to succeed him and to remove heroes who might challenge her politically like raheel sharif , is drawing serious anger in sunni and patriotic lobbies .
There is very serious danger of split in PMLN as there is a serious void , there is no effective force to represent sunni islamic sentiments as parties like JI, JUP and JUI get smaller and smaller and away from main stream relgious sentiments , something on which PMLN capitalized in its time . If PMLN drops Islam as it did for the last three years there has to be either a new mainstream islamic party or a new Islamic muslim league or alliance and split of PMLN will provide the nidus for effective force as about 10-25 % of Punjab's PMLN cadres are former Jamiat leaders and derived from other islamic parties.
Coalition politics
Known for simplicity and professional integrity, former COAS General (r) Raheel Sharif led the Pakistan Army for three years and retired highly popular. His towering personality and commitment to his job overshadowed everyone else. Being practical and a man of action, he earned the deep affection of the people for his three-year fight against terrorism.
The Thank You Raheel Sharif slogan was quickly replaced by Welcome Raheel Sharif echoing from the political quagmire of the Middle East. The government of Saudi Arabia wants to give Raheel Sharif a special role in the 39-countries nascent Islamic Coalition. However, back at home, a negative campaign has been lunched against the ex-army chief with the implicit message of Sorry Raheel Sharif thanks to the tricky politics of the current government.
It seems the prime minister wants to settle old scores with the ex-army chief and create an environment in which the retired general himself refuses the offer of the Saudi government. The reasons for this are manifold.
Mian Nawaz Sharif considers the appointment of the army chief a special power and thus wants the person to be as obedient as President Mamnoon Hussain. He appointed Raheel Sharif with the same hope. But soon he started to harbour the same doubts that he had against Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.
The prime minister strongly believes that Musharraf was helped out by Raheel Sharif. Though Gen (r) Raheel did not interfere during the dharna politics, yet the prime minister is unhappy over why he did not stop some of his subordinates from scripting and supporting the PTI dharna. The ex-army chiefs attempt to start a Rangers operation in Punjab also irked the Sharif brothers. Similarly, the role of the former army chief in foreign policy and national security as well as his drive to link corruption with terrorism offended the ruling elites.
The PMs team is sceptical of the role of the army under Raheel Sharifs command in giving more voice to the Panama leaks issue in the country. The Thank You Raheel Sharif slogan and his popularity among the people also irked the prime minister. These are some of the grounds and old grudges on the basis of which the role of Gen (r) Raheel Sharif in the Islamic Coalition is deliberately being made controversial. However, the facts are quite different.
The government gives the impression that Raheel Sharifs being part of the coalition will decide Pakistans participation in the coalition. But the fact is that Pakistan has already joined the coalition, and this decision was taken by the prime minister. The appointment of Raheel Sharif will not determine or affect Pakistans role and position in the coalition.
It should also be made clear that Pakistan only refused to send troops to Yemen after opposition in both the media and parliament. However, there was no such rejection of participation in the coalition. If I am wrong, then the PM Office should issue a statement that Pakistan has not joined the coalition and will never join it. I will apologise to the whole nation. But I am sure that Pakistan is part of the coalition and that, to that end, many meetings have already been held.
Another aspect of the coalition is that, though it is being formed by Saudi Arabia, its patron-in-chief is the US. The role of the US has been mentioned in some correspondence between Saudi Arabia and other partners, including Pakistan. How can Nawaz Sharif turn down a coalition which is being sponsored by the US, led by Saudi Arabia and joined by countries like Turkey and Egypt?
If accepting the offer is a sin, then it must be clear that the original sin has already been committed by the government when it joined the coalition.
Some analysts also say that such an appointment will lead to Irans displeasure. For their information, it is important to note that Iran has already been offended. And this is one of the reasons that Iran has worked towards strengthening ties with India.
This coalition is a strategic partnership against extremism. Its decision-making power will not be vested in its commander, whether Raheel Sharif or someone else, but in a specified decision-making forum. A defence ministers council will make all the decisions. And so, from the Pakistani side, it will be Khawaja Asif participating in the decision-making instead of Raheel Sharif.
According to my information, the objectives and structure of the coalition will be finalised by March after consultation with all the members. Saudi Arabia has offered Raheel Sharif a role that is yet to be decided and to which he has agreed in principle. However, Raheel Sharif cannot accept the new responsibility without the consent of the government of Pakistan and its army. The ball is now in the prime ministers court and he is trapped in a dilemma.
On the one hand, he cannot offend Saudi Arabia which wants Raheel Sharif to play a role in the coalition. On the other hand, he does not want to give permission to Raheel Sharif to accept the position. Hence, he has employed his traditional tricks with the aim to kill two birds with a single stone.
The anti-Raheel Sharif campaign seems part of the strategy to create an environment in which the former army chief himself turns down Saudi Arabias request. The prime minister will then easily convince the Saudi Arabia that he had no objection to Raheel Sharifs appointment, but that the general himself did not accept it or the military did not allow him. This is called gentlemans politics and Machiavellian tactics.
The writer works for Geo TV.
Source : https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/180201-Coalition-politics
There is very serious danger of split in PMLN as there is a serious void , there is no effective force to represent sunni islamic sentiments as parties like JI, JUP and JUI get smaller and smaller and away from main stream relgious sentiments , something on which PMLN capitalized in its time . If PMLN drops Islam as it did for the last three years there has to be either a new mainstream islamic party or a new Islamic muslim league or alliance and split of PMLN will provide the nidus for effective force as about 10-25 % of Punjab's PMLN cadres are former Jamiat leaders and derived from other islamic parties.
Coalition politics
Known for simplicity and professional integrity, former COAS General (r) Raheel Sharif led the Pakistan Army for three years and retired highly popular. His towering personality and commitment to his job overshadowed everyone else. Being practical and a man of action, he earned the deep affection of the people for his three-year fight against terrorism.
The Thank You Raheel Sharif slogan was quickly replaced by Welcome Raheel Sharif echoing from the political quagmire of the Middle East. The government of Saudi Arabia wants to give Raheel Sharif a special role in the 39-countries nascent Islamic Coalition. However, back at home, a negative campaign has been lunched against the ex-army chief with the implicit message of Sorry Raheel Sharif thanks to the tricky politics of the current government.
It seems the prime minister wants to settle old scores with the ex-army chief and create an environment in which the retired general himself refuses the offer of the Saudi government. The reasons for this are manifold.
Mian Nawaz Sharif considers the appointment of the army chief a special power and thus wants the person to be as obedient as President Mamnoon Hussain. He appointed Raheel Sharif with the same hope. But soon he started to harbour the same doubts that he had against Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.
The prime minister strongly believes that Musharraf was helped out by Raheel Sharif. Though Gen (r) Raheel did not interfere during the dharna politics, yet the prime minister is unhappy over why he did not stop some of his subordinates from scripting and supporting the PTI dharna. The ex-army chiefs attempt to start a Rangers operation in Punjab also irked the Sharif brothers. Similarly, the role of the former army chief in foreign policy and national security as well as his drive to link corruption with terrorism offended the ruling elites.
The PMs team is sceptical of the role of the army under Raheel Sharifs command in giving more voice to the Panama leaks issue in the country. The Thank You Raheel Sharif slogan and his popularity among the people also irked the prime minister. These are some of the grounds and old grudges on the basis of which the role of Gen (r) Raheel Sharif in the Islamic Coalition is deliberately being made controversial. However, the facts are quite different.
The government gives the impression that Raheel Sharifs being part of the coalition will decide Pakistans participation in the coalition. But the fact is that Pakistan has already joined the coalition, and this decision was taken by the prime minister. The appointment of Raheel Sharif will not determine or affect Pakistans role and position in the coalition.
It should also be made clear that Pakistan only refused to send troops to Yemen after opposition in both the media and parliament. However, there was no such rejection of participation in the coalition. If I am wrong, then the PM Office should issue a statement that Pakistan has not joined the coalition and will never join it. I will apologise to the whole nation. But I am sure that Pakistan is part of the coalition and that, to that end, many meetings have already been held.
Another aspect of the coalition is that, though it is being formed by Saudi Arabia, its patron-in-chief is the US. The role of the US has been mentioned in some correspondence between Saudi Arabia and other partners, including Pakistan. How can Nawaz Sharif turn down a coalition which is being sponsored by the US, led by Saudi Arabia and joined by countries like Turkey and Egypt?
If accepting the offer is a sin, then it must be clear that the original sin has already been committed by the government when it joined the coalition.
Some analysts also say that such an appointment will lead to Irans displeasure. For their information, it is important to note that Iran has already been offended. And this is one of the reasons that Iran has worked towards strengthening ties with India.
This coalition is a strategic partnership against extremism. Its decision-making power will not be vested in its commander, whether Raheel Sharif or someone else, but in a specified decision-making forum. A defence ministers council will make all the decisions. And so, from the Pakistani side, it will be Khawaja Asif participating in the decision-making instead of Raheel Sharif.
According to my information, the objectives and structure of the coalition will be finalised by March after consultation with all the members. Saudi Arabia has offered Raheel Sharif a role that is yet to be decided and to which he has agreed in principle. However, Raheel Sharif cannot accept the new responsibility without the consent of the government of Pakistan and its army. The ball is now in the prime ministers court and he is trapped in a dilemma.
On the one hand, he cannot offend Saudi Arabia which wants Raheel Sharif to play a role in the coalition. On the other hand, he does not want to give permission to Raheel Sharif to accept the position. Hence, he has employed his traditional tricks with the aim to kill two birds with a single stone.
The anti-Raheel Sharif campaign seems part of the strategy to create an environment in which the former army chief himself turns down Saudi Arabias request. The prime minister will then easily convince the Saudi Arabia that he had no objection to Raheel Sharifs appointment, but that the general himself did not accept it or the military did not allow him. This is called gentlemans politics and Machiavellian tactics.
The writer works for Geo TV.
Source : https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/180201-Coalition-politics
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