Pakistan - Nawaz Sharif and his cabal

By Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Decision making under Nawaz Sharif is not transparent. As in the 90’s the prime minister does not take the cabinet on board while taking decisions. The final word on vital issues, be these related to national policy matters or relations with other parties, comes from the prime minster. The kitchen cabinet, which advises him, comprises family members, the most prominent being Shahbaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar. A selected group of bureaucrats is also consulted whenever needed.

This is the type of prime ministerial form of government that Tony Blair has been accused of. There is however a stark difference as Blair, besides being a highly experienced politician, sought advice from knowledgeable individuals. In the case of Sharif none is to be trusted except a close group of family members and a handful of dependable bureaucrats. Blair ended up making some of the worst decisions like joining the invasion of Iraq. Nawaz Sharif could play havoc with the country.

Sharif has earned a reputation for holding his cards close to his chest and for detesting the idea of sharing plans and policies with anyone but his inner team of confidants. The policy has two problems. First, the decision taken in the manner could be highly defective and might have to be revised after enough damage has been done. Second, these could turn out to be highly controversial and the government might have to pay a political price for them.

The secretiveness has given birth to conjectures. There is a long-standing perception that the PML-N has a secret understanding with some of the terrorist organisations. Foremost among these are Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), working under its new nomenclature Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its reincarnation in the form of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

The perception was strengthened when in March 2010 Shahbaz Sharif appealed to the Taliban to spare Punjab. Subsequently, there was considerable let up to terrorist attacks in the province. A little later pictures appeared in the media showing Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah travelling in a car with ASWJ leaders during a local election campaign. The treatment given to the JuD in Punjab, including special security arrangements for Hafiz Saeed, too indicate an understanding of sorts.

Sharif has earned a reputation for holding his cards close to his chest and for detesting the idea of sharing plans and policies with anyone but his inner team of confidants

While Musharraf was put under house arrest, many thought Sharif and the army had an understanding to spare the former military ruler. The perception has been vindicated.

When the PML-N government did not pursue the cases against Zardari in Switzerland despite claims to bring back the ‘looted millions’ one often heard on the grapevine that this was on account of a secret collusion between the two sides.

It is still unknown who made the crucial decision to order police to fire on PAT workers in Model Town on June 17 last year that led to the killing of 14 while injuring dozens. An SP could not have taken the decision on his own. Was it Rana Sanaullah, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Punjab Dr Tauqir or Shahbaz Sharif himself? Dr Tauqir was later sent abroad as ambassador to WTO. Rana Sanaullah was, on the other hand, asked to resign. Despite holding no office, he still remains involved in decision making at the provincial level.

Secrecy in matters of national importance has caused misunderstanding between the government and its allies as well as opposition parties. Take the decision concerning the route of the China-Pak Economic Corridor. Nobody except Sharif’s cabal knows the real route.

The mega project is presented as a game changer but there is lack of transparency regarding the details of its actual stage wise direction. Government allies and opposition parties have accused the PML-N administration of changing the original route to benefit PML-N’s constituency in Punjab, thus depriving the smaller provinces of their share in the development projects that are to be set up at various points along the track. The PPP has asked the PML-N government to come clean on the issue and spell out clearly where projects like power plants and economic zones are to be set up. The government offers assurances that there has been no change in the original plan but refuses to publish the map showing the exact direction of the road or railway line. There is a likelihood of misunderstanding developing with China over the issue.

Fazlur Rehman, who visited China a couple of months back on the invitation of the ruling Communist Party, claimed that the Chinese leadership, had supported his point of view regarding the western alignment of the corridor from Gwadar to Kashgar via Quetta, Qilla Saifullah, Zhob, DI Khan, Peshawar and onwards.

A number of economists, including Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan and Dr Qaiser Bengali, have called for more transparency on corridor projects. The ambivalence has left the business community equally perturbed. They argue that transparency and information sharing is needed to ward off the risk of leakages leading to a situation where individuals and companies benefit at the cost of the country. They mentioned many instances of liberal resource inflows into the country that failed to create the desired impact because of secrecy. Saleem Mandviwalla, Tariq Rafi, Majyd Aziz, and Razzak Dewan are among those who have expressed grave concern over the lack of openness.

A number of decisions which were taken secretly were found to have been ill conceived and had to be revised. In cases this resulted in loss of face, in others, in wastage of resources.

Decisions regarding some of the power plants come under this category, the most prominent case being that of Gadani Power Project. Two months after coming to power Sharif ordered to take all measures for the completion of the 6,600MW Gadani Power Park Project on a fast-track basis. This was to be the centrepiece of PML-N government’s power policy. The cost of the project was estimated at $6-8 billion.

The secretiveness has given birth to conjectures. There is a long-standing perception that the PML-N has a secret understanding with some of the terrorist organisations

Presiding over a meeting of the Gadani Power Park Steering Committee in August 2013, the prime minister said the country’s development hinged on the completion of this project. Pakistan Power Park Management Company (PPMC) was hurriedly established for construction of infrastructure like port facilities, coal handling, roads, , etc, to enable setting up of 10 power projects of 660MW each and a transmission line. A hefty sum of funds was thus earmarked or the project. The fascination for the project continued during the next year also. In May 2014 Sharif approved two new coal fired plants for Gadani.

It appears that the details were not clearly settled with the Chinese counterparts who were subsequently accused of having “scaled down its priority over financial and technical apprehensions”. It was maintained that the Chinese had ‘concerns over payment issues against electricity sales after the completion of projects and suggested AC, instead of DC, circuit transmission line’. In February this year the National Assembly was informed that Gadani Power Park was no more on the government’s priority list.

The abandoning of a number of coal-fired power projects including the Gadani Power Park has not apparently gone down well with the Chinese government. According to a newspaper report, officials told the Cabinet Committee on Energy on February 12 that the Chinese ambassador had aired concern over reports that the government had decided to abandon coal-fired power projects. They said the ambassador argued that Beijing had done a lot of work on these projects and was expecting progress from the Pakistani side.

The Chinese protest comes in the backdrop of putting the massive Gadani Power Park on the back burner. Some planned coal-based power plants in Punjab have also been shelved because of coal transportation constraints, which were not taken into account by the kitchen cabinet before going ahead with the project. Another reason to abandon the project was the government’s focus suddenly turning form the coal fired plants to liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.

Despite several discomfitures the PML-N top leadership continues to function with secrecy as a hallmark.