Comeback Trail

DURING a rally at Lahore’s Regal Chowk on the eve of the 1990 elections, workers of the Pakistan Muslim League ( PML ) pressed their leader, Nawaz Sharif, to climb up on the seat of a huge, 40- foot- high bicycle, the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad’s election symbol. Nawaz demurred initially, but finally succumbed to his supporters’ demand. When he was finally perched there, he struck the casual observer as someone afraid of heights, a man much more relaxed with his feet on the ground.

But this is far from true. Nawaz Sharif had his sights set on the prime minister’s gaddi, and romped home to power. However, the establishment which had helped him to become prime minister soon turned against him. Halfway through his tenure, he was dismissed on charges of corruption and spent three years in the opposition. Now, he has set his sights once again on the nation’s top post.

However, fearing that concentrating on his own constituency, Lahore, might indicate weakness, he lets his son Hussain Nawaz and wife Kulsoom Nawaz run the campaign there, while he himself is always on the move in a Russian- made helicopter. Rousing welcomes greet him wherever he lands, particularly in his home province, Punjab. A fleet of cars draped in green party flags wait at every landing site to whisk him away.

One of the country’s leading industrialists, Sharif mainly talks of his economic agenda for Pakistan. His pet projects this time are the public transport programme for self- employment and a six- lane motor- way started by his last government.

In his Lahore constituency, with the Pakistan People’s Party having fielded a political lightweight, Sharif’s main rival is cricket hero Imran Khan. Many analysts feel Imran is being used by the establishment to cut into Sharif’s votebank. But Sharif, by supporting President Leghari’s brainchild, the Council for Defence and National Security, has shown that he too can work with the powers that be.

While publicly dismissing Imran’s chances, the PML has against him, focussing on the Sita White scandal. Imran’s Tehrik- e- Insaf has responded with Sharif’s alleged liaison with Indian socialite Dilshad Begum. And in this mudslinging, the real issues facing the elecorate have been neglected.

But the mood in the PML camp is visibly upbeat. And while the whole country, including PML workers, is uncertain whether the elections will actually be held, Sharif’s supporters are confident that a poll will result in a PML win. "Nothing can stop us from sweeping the polls," says PML secretary- general of Lahore, Pervez Rashid. In fact, Sharif seems like a cult figure for most PML supporters. He is ‘incorruptible’, a ‘true visionary’, ‘honest’ and the ‘only leader who can steer Pakistan to the road of economic development’. As for Imran’s challenge, Rashid says: "If you can bowl well, it does not imply you should be made prime minister of the country. You will see that Imran will get less votes than the number of wide balls he bowled in his cricketing career."

The PML ’s greatest advantage is the strong anti-PPP mood in the country. Benazir Bhutto presided over one of Pakistan’s worst economic crises. Nawaz is confident he will sweep the polls in all the four provinces. "This time the people of the federal capital will not find me in the prime minister’s house or secretariat," he pledges. "I will roam in the streets of the country to take care of the problems faced by the masses."

Aware that talk of GDP figures and other economic indices may not hold the people’s attention, Nawaz promises: "Quran in translation will be a compulsory subject for students till Class X and Education Cards will be given to children for free primary education."

Sharif started his political career as a blue- eyed boy of General Zia- ul- Haq and former Punjab Governor Ghulam Jilani Khan. His supporters see nothing wrong with this, arguing that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would have ended up nowhere if he didn’t have Ayub Khan to guide him during his initial years in politics. Interestingly, Sharif also shares with Benazir a taste for expensive clothes.

Sharif’s appetite, however, is legendary. During his stay at the Prime Minister’s House during 1990- 1993, he reportedly paid from his own pocket for a 100 kg daily supply of meat. It remains to be seen whether he will have a chance to indulge himself again in Islamabad.