- If Imran didn’t let Nawaz go, who did?
The rather plaintive statement by PM’s Information Adviser Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, that former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had not reported back on his health, is a little puzzling. While Prime Minister Imran Khan appears to want the credit of being a great humanitarian in letting Mian Nawaz go abroad for treatment, it seems he wants to avert the negative feedback that is coming from his base, which sees letting Mian Nawaz go as a betrayal of the PTI’s promised crusade over corruption. The attempts to throw doubt on Mian Nawaz’s illness make Imran able to satisfy his diehard supporters by implying that he did not want to let him out of jail, and get in a position where his own commitment to fighting corruption would be thrown in doubt. However, this approach itself raises more questions. If Mr Khan did not authorise Mian Nawaz going abroad, who did? Mr Khan had originally tried to shift the blame to the judiciary, but this was quickly scuttled by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who commented with some asperity that Mr Khan sent him abroad, and the judiciary had merely examined the modalities.
Who is more powerful than the Prime Minister? There should be no one, but there have been accusations aplenty, the latest coming only recently during the JUI-F’s Azadi March, that Mr Khan is not entirely free, that he is beholden to the military for his position. There are already many takers for the view that Mian Nawaz could only have gone abroad if he had got a wink and a nod from the concerned quarters. The PTI’s temper tantrums merely indicate that there may indeed be more than meets the eye, and indeed the government has been obliged to take a decision that it did not want to.
The only way the PTI can dispel this impression is by owning the decision, and instead of persuading its base that Mr Khan wasn’t responsible, persuade it that he was responsible, and that he took the decision in the best interests of the country and the party. Mr Khan should have trust in the people who voted for him in droves in the 2018 election.
