Will Chaudhry Nisar’s new entry change the country’s political dynamics?

A new debate has erupted in the country’s political front after former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar announced to take oath as a member Punjab Assembly in its session scheduled for Monday (today).

The estranged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, who was once a close confidante of deposed former premier Nawaz Sharif, had said goodbye to the party since his relations with the latter strained in 2017 over differences.

Chaudhry Nisar is considered a shrewd politician at the national level, contested the 2018 general polls from two national and two provincial assemblies as an independent candidate after developing differences with the PML-N.

However, Nisar only managed to win the provincial assembly seat of PP-10 Rawalpindi; he had not taken the oath, saying it would be complete duplicity if he took the oath of the provincial assembly’s seat.

The former interior minister maintained that being a member-elect of the provincial assembly it would not be suitable for him to raise questions over the performance of the National Assembly.

The rift between the Sharifs and Nisar 

The rift between the Sharifs and Nisar widened when the latter in 2018 said he would not beg the PML-N’s parliamentary committee for an election ticket. He also criticised the PML-N for having become a “family party”, which he said made it impossible for him to stay in it.

Nisar Ali Khan did not like to take the oath of office after winning a seat in the Punjab Assembly, nor did he leave the seat, which may be aimed at finding a conducive environment for resolving political issues in the future.

The latest announcement

On Sunday, in his statement, Nisar said that he had decided to take the oath approximately three and half years after winning the PA-10 seat so as to manage the political position in his constituency.

He added that stepping down as a legislator and then contesting by-polls would not have been a rational decision. The former interior minister also said boycotting the poll and leaving the field open for rivals would be a bigger mistake, particularly when the general polls will be taking place after two and a half years.

Nisar further said that he was also attentive to the jeopardy of the spread of coronavirus during poll campaigns and mass gatherings in case of him stepping down as a policymaker and the consequent scheduling of a by-election. Nisar, though, clarified that he had not changed his stance and would neither take salary nor benefit himself of the perks.

Nisar’s announcement and conspiracy theories

Nisar’s announcement is not a result of any political development but it is the need of the time as the PTI government was planning to amend the electoral reforms soon and it may include the section that those legislators not taking the oath for a definite time period would be de-seated.

However, after the announcement by Nisar, numerous conspiracy theories had poured and are doing the rounds on social and also in the print media and on top of it was that ‘someone’ desired to offer him a bigger role and that’s why the former interior minister was taking the oath after almost two-years.

As per this assumption, Nisar will take oath as an independent candidate after which he may join the PTI and replace present CM Usman Buzdar.

Political pundits opined this move might be a hurdle race for Nisar, as first of all, he had to make himself acceptable as CM in the PTI-led government and then deal with Acting Punjab Governor Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who also desired to take over the province.

Then again, the two major political parties, PPP and PML-N are also eagerly monitoring the situation and their leaders say they will first see what cards Nisar will show. Sadly, Chaudhry Nisar didn’t take oath for almost two years which result in he had deprived the citizens of his constituency of their right of representation.