The much talked about change in the political scenario has started to unfold. Whilst the PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif stayed back in London the party spokesperson, Marriyum Aurangzeb, issued a statement on Thursday following a meeting of the party's parliamentary group, saying he had stepped down as chairman of the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee - a position he had secured after protracted squabbling with the ruling PTI - and that Rana Tanvir is to take that place. Another party leader Khawaja Asif gets to be appointed as the party's parliamentary leader in the assembly, which means Sharif has also quit as the Leader of the Opposition. Although the spokesperson insisted he would be back around the middle of the current month, common sense suggests he would not have given up either of the two positions had he intended to return.
Politics may be the art of the possible in a positive sense but in this country the 'possible' seems to be a way of warding off ill fortune. Rumors have been rife for a while about the PML-N Supreme Leader Nawaz Sharif having struck an NRO-like deal - something the PTI has kept saying it would not give under any circumstances - with the powers-that-be in exchange for his exit from active politics. Lending strength to these rumours have been certain developments, such as Sharif and daughter Maryam Nawaz's uncharacteristic silence, his release from jail on medical grounds - his plea for an extension has been denied, though - and signs that he may soon be permitted to travel to London. However, although the younger Sharif brother, too, faced multiple alleged corruption references, given his conciliatory approach he was expected to stay back and lead the party inside and outside Parliament. The present change suggests otherwise. It has come as a bolt from the blue even to party insiders, dampening the morale of middle level leaders as well as the rank and file. In fact, reports coming out of the parliamentary group meeting say legislators close to the top leadership, like the firebrand Khwaja Saad Rafique and Mian Javed Latif, expressed disappointment over what they called the leadership's failure to lead the party from the front in Parliament, and also complained about not knowing what the party policy was.
The PPP, which was planning to launch a joint agitation against the government, has expressed its disapproval of the PML-N's decision. Notwithstanding its assertions against any 'deal', the PTI is all too happy to claim the Sharifs had failed to provide money trails in alleged cases of corruption and now their main focus is on finding a way out of the country. Shahbaz Sharif may yet spring a surprise on it by making a comeback. In case he does not, his party will have to face serious organizational challenges. Nonetheless, given its appeal to the religious-right the PML is expected to remain an important player though without its 'N' appendage, joining hands with old-new entrants from the PML-Q.