By Raja Arsalan Khan
Nawaz Sharif’s politics has come to an end, he won’t be in power again, he isn’t in a position to show his face to the people, there is no public support from him, Lahore has been lost forever, Punjab has changed and switched the loyalties. These are some of the assertions we have been hearing for over two decades with intervals.
The fact is he is fit and running yet again. He is roaming in the narrow streets of Old City in Lahore with thousands waiting to greet him as even some respectable journalists aren’t ready to give him much chance in Lahore. He can be down, but not out, despite the repeated attempts to deprive him of his vote bank.
You may not like, you may hate him, you may label him the reason behind all the ills, you may list him as the most corrupt person, it’s your right. When it comes to the choices, you may house him in Attock Fort and Adiala jail, you may send him into exile and you may introduce changes to the Constitution to limit the terms to just two for a prime minister. However, he is always back against all the odds.
But there are some serious questions: Why is Nawaz Sharif “invincible”? Why the bond with his supporters can’t be broken? Why is he always able to outmanoeuvre the political rivals? Is there something special when it comes to his relationship with the people?
Finding answers to these questions is more important for his critics, haters and rivals as it is they who have to cope with their failure to make him a history. They have to solve the puzzle. Let’s help them achieve their goal.
THE NATIVE
Nawaz Sharif, the most discussed politician in Pakistan for the last four decades, is a native of Lahore – born and raised in the Old City. He studied at the Saint Anthony High School and the Government College. It was the period when the city elite too sent their boys to these institutions and buying ice cream from vendors in the street was a great pastime even for the affluent. He enjoyed his youth spending time with friends in the Old City and the Mall Road, as Lahore hadn’t expanded yet to consume the agricultural lands around it. There were no gated communities to immune you from the masses.
Streets provide the best education when it comes to the people and society. No one can deny that. You are part of the people there, notwithstanding your social or economic status. You learn how the people behave, what they think and what their dreams are.
Meanwhile, his father was a successful businessman. Not just an ordinary businessman, but an industrialist, enabling him to understand the benefits of productivity. Hence, he was also in contact with the elite, thus peeping into their thinking and desires.
Being born in a family following the traditional values was an additional advantage. He learned how to respect others to develop and maintain a relationship. He didn’t need a tutor. He learned everything thanks to his family and the company he kept. It made him a good listener – a quality that is serving him even today when he is in his 70s.
Hence, Nawaz Sharif was in the best of both worlds, rubbing shoulders with the decision makers and shaking hands with the people trying to earn their livelihoods after rising early in the morning and returning home late. He is still associated with everything the Old City can offer – from “paye” and “nihari” to the manners required to be in public life.
THE OPPORTUNITY
When you have resources, you can dream and aim high. There are no restrictions. So he was in politics during early 1980s – obviously with the full backing and support of his late father. But unlike the general impression created by the rivals, he wasn’t the chosen one.
Whether he used relationship with the “special ones” doesn’t matter. So many people meet and greet them for progress. Why didn’t they succeed? There were many known and established politicians back then. His success, for whatever the reasons may be, show he has already learned enough skills to move forward in politics, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat included. You can’t deny him 10 out of 10 marks for that.
Nawaz Sharif has never been an ideologue; he has never even intended to claim so. He is just a person who knows how to find his way around and understands how the society and world works. He isn’t going to miss the chance provided in 1985.
It is an unchartered territory, both for Nawaz Sharif and the electorate. He offers them something new – better governance and service delivery across Punjab. But it doesn’t stop there, as the way he reaches out to the masses made him unique.
Previously, the chief ministers were from the rural elite, with a disdain for the masses, who distanced themselves from not just the poor but also the middle class. Punjab is experiencing something new – a wealthy individual from Lahore mingling with the people across the province – hugging them and having a picture for newspapers with them.
The change is too obvious to ignore as the people are noticing a clear transformation in their surroundings. Roads being built, schools and hospitals constructed, and tap water reaching their houses. So the humble man from Lahore is improving their quality of life too. Who wouldn’t have loved it?
At the same time, Nawaz Sharif is seen by urban pro-business groups, who have been angered by the nationalisation carried out by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, as their representative. Again, his actions have strengthened their belief. He now has a solid constituency in urban centres who are tired of rural elite deciding their future in even the 20th century.
But a natural calamity shows Punjab what he is really capable of. The 1988 floods just after Zia’s death devastated a vast area in Punjab, which is coincidently still his stronghold, as the eastern rivers ravaged the region. The adorable man is among the people, walking in mud and consoling the people who lost everything. He doesn’t avoid them, he reaches the places never visited before by a chief minister, making them believe that they now have a saviour, who talks and walks like them. He listens to them; he understands what they want.
With the initial success, Nawaz – the industrialist – would certainly target something new. You can’t limit yourself to the existing ventures which would automatically become outdated with the passage of time.
THE ONLY OPTION FOR NOW
The three years since the non-party elections, things have changed suddenly. The elections are coming. Someone needs to hold the Punjab fort. And no one is better suited than the man from Lahore, as he has already garnered a vote bank, his own vote bank. He just needs a push. Although people like Chaudhry Parvez Elahi too want to be in the run, they don’t offer much.
They don’t have the charisma, the support. Hence, all the traditional political families are rejected. Nawaz Sharif is badly needed and he is ready to be the king of Punjab.
However, you mustn’t forget that it is a just a political necessity, not a love affair. But at the same time, the people and Nawaz Sharif have developed an affair with the people, not just in Lahore, but other parts of Punjab too – a fact that went unnoticed amid the immediate political needs.
While running the Punjab affairs, Nawaz Sharif is now well versed in realpolitik. He is ready to lead the conservative voters. Being a shrewd politician, he will assimilate his vote bank into the larger picture for the challenge – a feat which no chief minister in Pakistan has ever accomplished.
THE ULTIMATE PRIZE
By the time, we entered 1990, he has much bigger ambitions and goals as he successfully governed Punjab and also defeated, or at least cornered, the rivals within his own constituency – the conservative block. So he can now mount a challenge for Islamabad. He has the voters, the allure. One last hurdle – the Jatoi from Sindh – who is projected as an alternative for being from Sindh and a recognised name in Pakistan
But this project has a basic defect. Jatoi lacks individual vote base at a time when Nawaz Sharif has mastered the realpolitik as well. Hence, Jatoi fails at the very first public appearance in Lahore where the slogan “Wazir-e-Azam” (Prime Minister) is responded with “Nawaz Sharif”. People don’t want anything rather than the man who they recognise as one of them for his attire, looks, gestures and “eating habits”. Another one is knocked down. No one can stop him from reaching the Prime Minister House.
Those who claim that Nawaz Sharif was prepared for the job will never explain one little thing: If Nawaz Sharif was the plan, then why he and Aslam Beg had a rift soon after the elections? An obedient or subservient boy doesn’t challenge the high and mighty so soon, and that too, over an international dispute – the Kuwait war.
Meanwhile, the episode proved one more thing. Nawaz Sharif isn’t just an ordinary commodity with limited thinking. He has proved that he provides a vision required for world politics.
THE BOSS
It is the 1990-93 period and Nawaz Sharif has introduced economic reforms that will be copied across the eastern borders by India. Pakistan is changing at a rapid pace – a development hated by the traditional ruling class.
But hurdles are being created from within the state structure, his authority as the country’s chief executive isn’t accepted. It makes him to say “Mien dictation nahin loon ga” [I won’t take dictation]. People just love this, as the man, who is just like them, has said NO and isn’t afraid of the consequences. He can even sacrifice his own government. The ordinary people cannot skip it.
The announcement that he won’t allow any to dictate means the journey has completed. He is a statesman who won’t compromise on his principles and surrender before the powerful. For the people, he is now a leader, not just another guy better service.
THE EXPANSION
If you want to understand the reasons behind the longevity of Nawaz Sharif’s political life, the events summarised above can’t be ignored, which shaped his politics and support base and are still helping him to survive in the politics of Pakistan, not as a player, but as a king and kingmaker.
However, there is one more thing to be added: the flexibility to withstand the changes in sections of vote bank and the ability to offer something new to someone.
Nawaz Sharif’s decision not to accept the JI’s conditions and form his own PML-N during his first stint in government marks the first stage of changing the nature of his support base. In fact, it enabled him to showcase himself independently. Again a successful move.
Next comes the Lahore Declaration, as he goes ahead with the attempted peace process, knowing that the hardliners won’t like the move. But he recognises the fact that there are millions of people in Pakistan and there won’t be any shortage of new admirers. At the same time, hosting Vajpayee coupled with the nuclear tests conducted earlier also announced his arrival at the world stage.
This subtraction and addition have continued since then, as the adaptability is the quality no one has like Nawaz Sharif. He lures more supporters with things like Metro and Orange Line than the groups created to damage his support base.
Who would have imagined a large number of women attending the “Muslim League” rallies in Pakistan? But is a fact. It summarises his ability to defy all the predictions.
Even in 2024, many still believe that Nawaz Sharif is the answer to the problems. He doesn’t speak much and somehow conveys his message to the target audience – an exercise that media pundits and analysts are unable to comprehend.
THE MARATHON
So Nawaz Sharif is the marathon guy. Others are not. He is the second person after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to create his own following, but with guaranteed sustainability and durability, which has never been offered by any other political figure at this level.
Just check the “Project Imran” with all the required ingredients launched with decades in mind, but it failed. Reason? It wasn’t rooted among the people and didn’t serve their needs. It was inspired by the posh localities of Islamabad and Lahore. It was fake. Hence, it didn’t any solutions to the social, economic and political challenges. In fact, it threatened the state itself as even lacked the capacity to manage the day-to-day affairs of affairs.
End result? Nawaz Sharif is back because he has remained confident of its collapse. Moreover, he is also required to collect the garbage and run Pakistan.
His return is a product of his expandable nature. He is also adjusting all the time, which explains his longevity. Since his return from London, he has gobbled much of the BAP in Balochistan without any seat adjustment but opted for an understanding with other parties in Sindh and Punjab. However, he has again avoided any seat adjustment, including with Maulana, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Realpolitik at its best.
However, he has never attempted to forget the basics: Be like the people and their echo their needs. Strive for your goals but continue practicing realpolitik.
You may not be able to forgive him for not speaking English in fake accent and also consuming desi food, but he is persistent. He always presents himself to the people as “your man”. While others come and go despite all the projection and investment, it is the reason why Nawaz Sharif is still in the race and among the people.