PML-N fears PPP onslaught after presidential poll

The PML-N apprehends unfolding of a two-pronged strategy by the PPP to deal with the Sharif brothers after the Sept 6 presidential election.

The PML-N fears that as per this strategy, the PPP, which will be exceptionally confident after Asif Zardari's election as president, will make a concerted bid to get the Sharif brothers disqualified through the Supreme Court where their eligibility or election has been challenged, and oust their government in Punjab.

"We can't stop the ruling party from embarking on a collision course if it has decided to do so, but we will defend ourselves without resorting to any undemocratic means. We are not scared," prominent PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told The Media.

PPP insiders say several party leaders from Punjab, who are mainly eyeing short-term gains, were keen to remove the Shahbaz Sharif government and keep pushing the central party leadership towards this end. They particularly name Governor Salmaan Taseer and Adviser Manzoor Wattoo in this connection.

But on the other hand, in the words of a PPP leader, there are saner elements, which are opposed to entering into any kind of tussle with the Sharif brothers, fearing that chaos and anarchy would grip the country.

They assert that an intense political war would start with the PML-N if the PPP tried to get rid of the Punjab government after the presidential poll. This, they believe, will endanger the democratic system.

However, a source close to Zardari told The Media that the Punjab government has now started behaving. "We have to be active during the campaign for the presidential election, when the provincial administration was pressuring our MPs to change loyalties. As a result of this, the Punjab government has been stopped from doing so and our voters have gained confidence."

PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said: "What we now have is not The Pakistan of the ’80s and the ’90s when political players were free to indulge in illegalities and weren't exposed immediately. Now, nothing illegal or undemocratic could be kept under wraps for too long."

He was confident that full-fledged PPP efforts, if launched, to "conquer" Punjab would backfire. "No defections can be managed in our party by anybody because everyone sees his future in the continuation of his association with it."

PML-N leader Khwaja Asif recently said the challenge to Nawaz Sharif's disqualification (imposed by the Lahore High Court) to contest the National Assembly election and Shahbaz Sharif's election as MPA in the Supreme Court was always used by the PPP as a "trump card" during talks before Aug 7.

"We were then frequently warned that these cases are pending disposal in the apex court and, therefore, we should behave as the rulings can go against them." An informed PML-N section was optimistic that after landing in the highest office without much difficulty, Zardari will not resort to any adventurism that would provoke the PML-N to react. It believes that knowing the political might of Nawaz Sharif, the PPP chief would keep away the enthusiasts who want short-term gains.