The Calculated Move of Zardari?
KARACHI (News Desk) Senior journalist Sohail Warraich has written in his recent column that when the matter of Imran’s health escalated beyond limits, the illness ignited politics. The strategy of the PML-N was to cool down this matter and keep it under wraps. Attaullah Tarar, Rana Sanaullah, and federal ministers dealt with the issue through their statements. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif mysteriously remained silent, and his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif, lives in his own world beyond this one, so any access to him would have been required to get his position—hence, there was also an impression of silence from that side.
In this situation, President Asif Ali Zardari came forward openly. By comparing Imran’s illness to his own time in jail, he responded to PTI’s narrative and deliberately redirected the fire of the “Insafist” propaganda from the PML-N to himself. The question is: why did Zardari do this? What is hidden in this move or strategy, and what consequences will follow?
Perhaps Zardari realized that the PML-N’s top leadership, by keeping itself away from this issue, is making the same political mistake that the government is making in response to Imran’s narrative—focusing on governance instead of politics—so that the burden of Imran’s narrative falls on the non-political establishment. And in sharing this burden effectively, the PML-N is clearly lacking and leaving a gap.
By giving this strong statement, the President of Pakistan signaled that they have the courage to shoulder the burden of opposition alongside others and offer their own support.
