The supremo of PML(N) Nawaz Sharif has nominated President of the party Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif for the post of Prime Minister of the country, while PTI has nominated Umar Ayub Khan for the slot, who is the grandson of former dictator Field Marshal Ayub Khan.
The nomination of Shahbaz Sharif opened a debate in the media, especially on social media. Before the election it was confirmed by every source of PML(N) that Nawaz Sharif would become the Prime Minister for the fourth time. The party also floated an advertisement campaign in the print media, before one day of the elections mentioning that Nawaz would be the next PM. Even the party had given the slogan for the elections was “Give Nawaz to Pakistan”.
But all of sudden what happened was that Nawaz Sharif had to withdraw his name from the race of premiership and had to bring his younger brother forward instead of his place. There are a lot of speculations that are going round in the media but few of the analysts think that some influential corners were behind the withdrawal of Nawaz Sharif. There could be another reason that the election results were not according to his expectation so he decided to step down
As the former head of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman has disclosed some truths about the no confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, similarly it is very much possible that the real story about Nawaz’s stepping back might be revealed after passage of some time.
Now the main question that is arising in the minds of the people is what kind of role Nawaz will play after the formation of the government. Will he control all the affairs from outside after becoming the President of PML(N) and enjoy the full protocol?
But It will be much more difficult for him to look after all the business of the country, while sitting outside of the government. Though he can issue guidelines to the government, legally it is not obligatory for the Prime Minister to act cent percent upon his advice. The role of Asif Ali Zardari was quite different as he was President of the country as well as head of his party simultaneously. But the case of Nawaz Sharif would be totally different in the new government.
In the past it has been observed that if the head of the ruling party stays outside the government, then his role in the decision making remains very limited. If PML(N) would come into power, then the role of Nawaz Sharif would be as the part of Gandhi, when his party Congress made the government in India, just after independence in 1947. At that time though the Indian government recognized him as a father of nation, but he had not any say in the matters of the government.
If PPP would join the coalition government with PML(N), as it is said by the People’s Party that they would not accept any ministry in the federal government but in return for the support to PML(N) it is likely that Asif Zardari might be the next President of the Pakistan. Rather PPP could demand the posts of Chairman Senate, Speaker of National Assembly or Governor of one province.
In the entire scenario, it looks like that in the future government the Nawaz Sharif is seen to be minus in the decision making and running the official affairs. If he will have any role, it will be self-same restricted within particular limits, as he cannot go beyond the specific perimeters. But the people who know Nawaz, are of the opinion that nature wise he cannot restrain himself from poking nose in the government affairs.