Pakistan: Nisar losing influence with Sharifs?

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who appears to be losing influence in his PML-N since the last year’s general elections, is in hot waters again, this time for his latest speech in the National Assembly.

There are fears within the party that the minister’s remarks over Monday’s terrorist attack on Islamabad district courts may land the government in trouble after the threat by lawyers to launch a full-fledge movement from next week.

A number of PML-N members and legislators said if the minister did not take any remedial step to control the damage, the government might be forced to have a direct confrontation with the lawyers’ community.

Lawyers have been demanding Chaudhry Nisar’s resignation over his claim about the number of terrorists involved in the attack and for his statement that District and Sessions Judge Rafaqat Awan had been killed by one of his own bodyguards.

Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) vice chairman Chaudhry Ramzan, when contacted, alleged that the minister was intentionally trying to cover up the security lapse and “protecting” terrorists by rejecting the affidavits of lawyers who had not only seen the entire incident, but also received bullet injuries.

He said the minister was frustrated and upset as terrorists had exposed his hollow claim that Islamabad was a safe city.

The PML-N members are also terming the minister’s remarks as “uncalled-for and unnecessary” at this point of time when investigations are still incomplete.

They are of the view that Chaudhry Nisar should not have made such a statement, even if he had come to know about it through the officials in police or intelligence agencies. One of the senior PML-N legislators went on to compare Chaudhry Nisar with former interior minister Rehman Malik, saying: “I see no difference between him and Rehman Malik.” Another PML-N member commented that there was no need for the minister to make a long speech on a sensitive matter. “Policy statements are always kept brief and to the point and they are not expressed in extempore speeches,” he added. Sources in the PML-N claimed that Chaudhry Nisar, who once considered to be a close confidant of the Sharifs, no more enjoys that position, particularly after the general elections when he lost both his native National Assembly and provincial assembly seats. They said there was a strong anti-Nisar group within the party which had been active since the elections and it had succeeded in at least creating a considerable distance between Chaudhry Nisar and the Sharifs.

The party sources say that two senior party leaders, who are on key positions in the federal cabinet, are not even on talking terms with Chaudhry Nisar. Besides, the sources said, the party members were also unhappy with the minister due to what they called his “inaccessibility” and for not helping them in resolving their issues. Chaudhry Nisar has himself on a number of occasions admitted that many of his party colleagues are not happy with him due to his various actions, including cancellation of blue passports and withdrawal of security and official protocol.

The interior minister has not been able to attend the Senate session for the past many months due to the opposition’s protest for allegedly providing wrong information to the house in response to questions regarding the terrorism incidents and drone attacks. After refusal of Chaudhry Nisar to withdraw the wrong reply on the opposition’s demand, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to give additional charge of the interior ministry to Minister of State for Education Balighur Rehman who has been assigned the task of giving replies in the Senate on behalf of the interior ministry. Despite repeated attempts, Chaudhry Nisar could not be contacted for his comments.