He gave the nation’s satirists a run for their money, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif did the other day. Will control inflation if given a chance in power once again. The PDM government’s lead party being the PML(N) and Sharif being the N, it was a bizarre statement.
But perhaps this was the former premier’s belief in himself. Much like King Arthur’s being able to pull out the sword out of the stone only by virtue of being King Arthur. This is a trait that the League supremo shares with his bête noire Imran Khan.
But it would do the man well to realise that things are not going to be falling into his lap easily. The Pakistan of the year of his ouster is different from today’s. The economic situation, due to geopolitical factors, is far different from 2017. The PPP’s stint at the federal government from 2008 to 2013 was marked by high global fuel prices, which fed inflation. The League, however, lucked into low prices, and therefore, lower inflation. This wasn’t because of finance minister Ishaq Dar’s deft handling of his portfolio. Dar’s current stint as finance minister is proof enough of that. With the current stage of the commodity supercycle and the accompanying war in Ukraine, one wonders what has given Sharif the confidence to make statements like those.
Moving away from the economy: Sharif’s stance on civil-military relations has, historically, been more admirable than that of Imran Khan. The Institution being what it is, therefore, isn’t going to be all too amenable to the way he will run things. How will he ensure that a repeat of 2014, and then 2017-18, does not take place this time?
This would be a far taller order than the economy.
