Nawaz's Foreign Trips: Prime Minister's home away from home

There should be no problem if one has his 'second home' in another country. But it is a problem if for an elected prime minister his own country is his 'second home' - as seems to be the case of Nawaz Sharif. Since assuming office as Pakistan's chief executive and also in charge of ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence five months ago, he has spent nearly a month or so visiting other countries. On Thursday, the prime minister was in London on the invitation of his British counterpart to meet President Karzai and attend a sort of economic forum of Muslim countries, on his third visit to London in the last fortnight or so. That his brother, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif too showed up in time to meet British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is no big surprise because London is Sharifs' "second home". So present there were quite a few members of the clan who too keep shuttling through London during their hectic foreign tours on government business. Before Britain sheds its autumn colours and becomes forbiddingly cold, it is worth visiting. Then many members of Pakistani elite have their businesses and families in London, requiring their frequent presence. But it would be blasphemic to suggest that the popularly-elected prime minister is whiling away his time in London when proverbial 'Rome is burning'. To remain unconcerned over his prolonged absence from the country in times as hard and critical as Pakistan faces today, would be no less blasphemic. Not waiting long enough to digest a briefing on the myriad problems Pakistan is beset with at the time he took over, he left for China in July for a five-day visit. Next month he had to go to Saudi Arabia to perform 'umra' and have an audience with King Abdullah, his host during the spell of his exile. In September Nawaz Sharif visited Turkey and then New York to attend the UN General Assembly and meet Manmohan Singh, a meeting Pakistani leadership had been wanting knowing full well it would never be more than a handshake, and in this case a 'juppha' (embrace). He had to be again in the United States in late October to meet President Obama for a meeting which was not possible during his UN visit because Washington would not like to meet the rival prime ministers in one go to prove its policy of de-hyphenating the two in its approach to South Asia. This is not to suggest that political leaders do not go abroad, they indeed do, but only when it is indispensably important in the national interest. But not in Pakistan where somehow the leaders are loose-footed and would feel caged at home. Should Nawaz Sharif undertake his scheduled visits to Sri Lanka and Thailand later this month he would be beating the enviable record set by Yousuf Raza Gilani who visited more than 40 counties during his term in office. When the prime minister is away from his office all the decisions that are to be taken at his level are not taken; the policy-direction that he as the chief executive is expected to give is not available; and the files he is supposed to clear as minister of Defence or Foreign Affairs are held up on his desk. In a way, ad hocism tends to prevail, because it is just not possible that the prime minister would be looking after his routine work during his foreign visits. Maybe, as some say, others in line of command are equally empowered to take over his routine work. But what to do when guidance-cum-action on his part is required on critical issues like rampant terrorism, scope of peace parleys with Taliban, dysfunctional parliamentary committees and appointments to high military and civilian departments and the fate of national entities like PIA and Pakistan Steels. That during nearly half a year of its existence the parliament has not been able to pass a single piece of legislation other than the Finance Bill and the government had to issue Protection of Pakistan Ordinance in order to provide adequate authority to fight terrorism and lawlessness is nothing but a pathetic state of affairs during the tenure of an elected government. If what media reported on the engagements of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had during some of his visits one would conclude all of it could be done, if at all it was inescapable, at a much lower level. That his visits are most economical, as his aides would say, the answer is the setbacks the government working suffers in his absence are much more costly. There should be no problem that his foreign visits enjoy high visibility and appropriate protocol; the problem is when a visit at his level is either absolutely unwarranted or can be undertaken at some lower level.