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Nawaz Sharif hopes for third time lucky as Pakistan's PM
The true test of the 'new' Nawaz will be how he tackles Pakistan's chronic economic woes and endemic corruption
Mian Mohamed Nawaz Sharif, winner of Pakistan's general election, will hope to strike third time lucky after his two previous terms as prime minister, from 1990-93 and 1997-99, were cut short by constitutional crises and men with guns.
Although the "new" Nawaz, 63, is an older and supposedly wiser man, he faces potential challenges from the military, the judiciary, and a broken, corrupted economy that proved his undoing in the past. He also inherits a security situation far worse than that two decades ago.
Nawaz first rose to prominence in Punjab during the era of the military dictator Zia ul-Haq. Hailing from the wealthy Sharif family, which made its money in steel manufacture, he was appointed finance minister and was subsequently made chief minister of the province by Zia in 1985.
He used Lahore as a power base from which to lead the national opposition to the Pakistan Peoples party's Benazir Bhutto, after she became prime minister in 1988 following Zia's mysterious death in a plane crash. When Bhutto was dismissed from office on corruption charges in 1990, Nawaz was elected prime minister, committed to a free market and privatisation agenda and espousing a religiously conservative outlook.
With one eye on Nato's 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Nawaz's conservative Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) says the new government will seek to rebuild harmonious relations with the US, damaged by drone attacks, cross-border incidents and spying rows.
As in the past, the pragmatic Nawaz will not want to jeopardise $2bn in annual US aid. But he has vowed to review Pakistan's support for America's "war on terror" and says he will seek peace with the Pakistani Taliban, allies of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Reconciliation would not come at the expense of Pakistan's national interests. "Economic weaknesses are forcing us to go begging bowl in hand, while foreign states undertake unilateral strikes on our territory," the party's manifesto complained. Elected politicians, not generals or outsiders, would direct foreign policy.
Nawaz has also pledged to improve ties with India on the basis of the 1999 Lahore declaration, which committed both countries to a durable peace. But India, too, has cause for suspicion. It was Nawaz's surprise decision, in 1998, to conduct nuclear tests, after similar action by India, that brought a sharp deterioration in relations with both Delhi and Washington. And Nawaz oversaw the 1999 Kargil conflict, which brought the two neighbours to the brink of all-out war.
Nawaz has promised not to interfere in the process of choosing a successor to General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief of staff, who retires in November. But potential clashes loom over possible cuts in the military's budget, and over the fate of the former president General Pervez Musharraf, who is under house arrest outside Islamabad.
Nawaz was ready enough to intervene in army affairs in 1998, when he appointed Musharraf chief of staff. He then suffered the ignominy of being overthrown by his protege in a military coup the following year.
Musharraf subsequently pursued Nawaz through the courts and forced him into a long exile. How Nawaz deals with his old foe will be a measure of the change he claims to represent.
His second term is remembered for constitutional clashes with the then president, Farooq Leghari, and the judiciary. Nawaz forced out Leghari and replaced him with his own man, while drastically reducing presidential powers. After he was summoned by the supreme court for contempt, a pro-Nawaz mob attacked the then chief justice.
Nawaz must now deal with President Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the defeated Pakistan Peoples party, and with the formidable supreme court chief justice and judicial rights activist Iftikhar Chaudhry. But Nawaz's luck may be in this time. Zardari's term ends in September and Chaudhry is also due to retire this year. Nawaz will have a chance to replace both men with political allies.
For most voters the true test of the "new" Nawaz, one of Pakistan's wealthiest men who has faced numerous, unproven corruption allegations, will be how he tackles the country's chronic economic woes and accompanying, endemic corruption, said to be worse now than during the spectacularly venal 1990s.
Social problems are worsening, too. "Pakistan continues to teeter on non-governability … Pakistan's education lags behind Bangladesh's. Only 0.7% of the Pakistani GDP is spent on health. The literacy rate is at 53% and poverty at 24%," said analyst Gustav Ranis.
By way of reassurance, Nawaz points to his record as a businessman, privatiser, tax reformer and builder of infrastructure dating back to his time as Punjab chief minister. In particular, he has promised to end the energy shortages that are handicapping Pakistani commerce.
But the immediate future may bring another reprise of past history – an application to the IMF for an emergency bailout to stave off a national default.
Nawaz Sharif hopes for third time lucky as Pakistan's PM | World news | guardian.co.uk
The true test of the 'new' Nawaz will be how he tackles Pakistan's chronic economic woes and endemic corruption
Mian Mohamed Nawaz Sharif, winner of Pakistan's general election, will hope to strike third time lucky after his two previous terms as prime minister, from 1990-93 and 1997-99, were cut short by constitutional crises and men with guns.
Although the "new" Nawaz, 63, is an older and supposedly wiser man, he faces potential challenges from the military, the judiciary, and a broken, corrupted economy that proved his undoing in the past. He also inherits a security situation far worse than that two decades ago.
Nawaz first rose to prominence in Punjab during the era of the military dictator Zia ul-Haq. Hailing from the wealthy Sharif family, which made its money in steel manufacture, he was appointed finance minister and was subsequently made chief minister of the province by Zia in 1985.
He used Lahore as a power base from which to lead the national opposition to the Pakistan Peoples party's Benazir Bhutto, after she became prime minister in 1988 following Zia's mysterious death in a plane crash. When Bhutto was dismissed from office on corruption charges in 1990, Nawaz was elected prime minister, committed to a free market and privatisation agenda and espousing a religiously conservative outlook.
With one eye on Nato's 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Nawaz's conservative Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) says the new government will seek to rebuild harmonious relations with the US, damaged by drone attacks, cross-border incidents and spying rows.
As in the past, the pragmatic Nawaz will not want to jeopardise $2bn in annual US aid. But he has vowed to review Pakistan's support for America's "war on terror" and says he will seek peace with the Pakistani Taliban, allies of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Reconciliation would not come at the expense of Pakistan's national interests. "Economic weaknesses are forcing us to go begging bowl in hand, while foreign states undertake unilateral strikes on our territory," the party's manifesto complained. Elected politicians, not generals or outsiders, would direct foreign policy.
Nawaz has also pledged to improve ties with India on the basis of the 1999 Lahore declaration, which committed both countries to a durable peace. But India, too, has cause for suspicion. It was Nawaz's surprise decision, in 1998, to conduct nuclear tests, after similar action by India, that brought a sharp deterioration in relations with both Delhi and Washington. And Nawaz oversaw the 1999 Kargil conflict, which brought the two neighbours to the brink of all-out war.
Nawaz has promised not to interfere in the process of choosing a successor to General Ashfaq Kayani, the army chief of staff, who retires in November. But potential clashes loom over possible cuts in the military's budget, and over the fate of the former president General Pervez Musharraf, who is under house arrest outside Islamabad.
Nawaz was ready enough to intervene in army affairs in 1998, when he appointed Musharraf chief of staff. He then suffered the ignominy of being overthrown by his protege in a military coup the following year.
Musharraf subsequently pursued Nawaz through the courts and forced him into a long exile. How Nawaz deals with his old foe will be a measure of the change he claims to represent.
His second term is remembered for constitutional clashes with the then president, Farooq Leghari, and the judiciary. Nawaz forced out Leghari and replaced him with his own man, while drastically reducing presidential powers. After he was summoned by the supreme court for contempt, a pro-Nawaz mob attacked the then chief justice.
Nawaz must now deal with President Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the defeated Pakistan Peoples party, and with the formidable supreme court chief justice and judicial rights activist Iftikhar Chaudhry. But Nawaz's luck may be in this time. Zardari's term ends in September and Chaudhry is also due to retire this year. Nawaz will have a chance to replace both men with political allies.
For most voters the true test of the "new" Nawaz, one of Pakistan's wealthiest men who has faced numerous, unproven corruption allegations, will be how he tackles the country's chronic economic woes and accompanying, endemic corruption, said to be worse now than during the spectacularly venal 1990s.
Social problems are worsening, too. "Pakistan continues to teeter on non-governability … Pakistan's education lags behind Bangladesh's. Only 0.7% of the Pakistani GDP is spent on health. The literacy rate is at 53% and poverty at 24%," said analyst Gustav Ranis.
By way of reassurance, Nawaz points to his record as a businessman, privatiser, tax reformer and builder of infrastructure dating back to his time as Punjab chief minister. In particular, he has promised to end the energy shortages that are handicapping Pakistani commerce.
But the immediate future may bring another reprise of past history – an application to the IMF for an emergency bailout to stave off a national default.
Nawaz Sharif hopes for third time lucky as Pakistan's PM | World news | guardian.co.uk
