Sharifs, Zardari keep inviting each other for food at crucial times

LAHORE: Sumptuous luncheons and dinners at crucial junctures have been the hallmarks of the PMLN and PPP relationship during the last decade or so, which has otherwise seen the Sharifs and Zardari ditching and trusting each other, besides embracing and lashing out on numerous occasions in utter disdain, and at will.

Living up to their tradition, the leaders of both the PMLN and the PPP again had food together in Lahore on Saturday afternoon and brainstormed over a joint strategy to take on the incumbent Imran Khan-led government. This time around, PMLN President Shehbaz Sharif invited former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for lunch at his 196-H Model Town residence. Sharifs have hosted Zardari on a lot more occasions. Each time, a build-up of events had basically forced these political adversaries to organize these opulent dinners and luncheons for each other, otherwise history shows they have had no love lost for each other!

Research shows that in December 2012, Shehbaz Sharif had accused Asif Ali Zardari of robbing the nation of billions of rupees, adding that he would retrieve the looted wealth from the sitting president. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Pakpattan Hydro Electric Power Project, Shehbaz had added that the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government had taken the country to the brink of destruction. On another occasion, he had emotionally pledged to “dissect Zardari’s stomach” and retrieve the hoodwinked national wealth.

On August 23, 2013, the-then president Asif Ali Zardari had hosted a dinner at the Presidency for the newly-elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif. And on September 5, 2013, a farewell luncheon by the-then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had honoured the outgoing president, Asif Ali Zardari. Both leaders had showered praises on each other during the function. The PPP had then provided crucial support to the PML-N government throughout 2014. In April 2014, after tensions had mounted between the Sharif government and the military leadership for a number of reasons, another former premier, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, had demanded the disqualification of legislators who defamed the army. However, the PPP leadership had resiliently stood beside a panicky Nawaz Sharif at this testing time. It was also during April 2014 that Asif Ali Zardari and his loyalists had supported Nawaz Sharif when calls to remove his Defence minister Khwaja Asif had surfaced. Khwaja Asif had found himself at the centre of a controversy following his remarks on former president Pervez Musharraf’s treason trial and his outburst against the Pakistan Army. On April 16, 2014, the-then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had organized a luxurious luncheon for former president Asif Ali Zardari. Both leaders of the ruling PMLN and the opposition PPP also participated in a lunch followed by a one-on-one and delegation level meetings between old rivals. The menu of lunch was prepared taking into consideration Asif Ali Zardari’s taste for food. The dishes included mix-vegetables, paneer karahi, dal makhani, seekh kabab, chicken cheese kebab, paneer tikka, reshmi chicken, chicken makhani, do-pyaza, tikka masala and a delicious biryani.

And then came the most crucial support from the PPP, after Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri had led a long march to Islamabad in August 2014, followed by a sit-in and storming of the capital's Red Cone by their supporters. This was in total contrast to Asif Ali Zardari’s stance against Sharifs after the June 2014 Model Town killings. Zardari had phoned Tahirul Qadri after killing of his supporters and expressed solidarity.

On August 22, 2014, even as his compatriots continued to be in a state of suspense from the prolonged protests in the federal capital, prime minister Nawaz Sharif began preparing to host Asif Ali Zardari at his Jati Umrah Raiwind residence in a bid to end the stalemate. On August 29 of the same year, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Shareef had met both Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri. This meeting with the army chief had made Imran famously say, “The referee had raised his finger.” Nawaz Sharif was on the back foot, visibly struggling to survive. The PPP leadership then came forward and advised Nawaz Sharif to convene a joint session of the parliament. Resultantly, the Upper and Lower Houses of the Parliament met on September 2, 2014. On August 26, 2015, Rangers had arrested a noted PPP leader and former Petroleum minister, Dr Asim Hussain, from his office in Clifton, Karachi. On August 16 of the same year, Zardari had said he had no interest in establishing contact with Nawaz Sharif. And in September 2015, Asif Ali Zardari had accused Nawaz Sharif of “repeating the vindictive politics of the 1990s”. On October 9, 2017, referring to Nawaz Sharif, former president Zardari had said in an interview that a disqualified individual could not become a party’s head in a democratic system. On October 20, 2017, Zardari had demanded the immediate arrest of the Sharifs in the Panama Papers case. On November 22, 2017, after having attended a NAB hearing pertaining to graft allegations linked to the Panama Papers scandal, Nawaz Sharif had expressed frustration over the PPP’s stance during the whole case. He was quoted as saying: “The PPP remembered the law of the dictator while they forgot the one given by Bhutto? I feel like tearing up the Charter of Democracy.”

It was also in November 2017 that Shehbaz Sharif had accused Asif Ali Zardari of Rs 6 billion corruption. By the way, in November 2017, Asif Ali Zardari had refused to meet Nawaz Sharif for the fourth time within three months, saying his party was ‘not ready to be used’ to save an individual who was corrupt. On March 28, 2018, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif had expressed his regrets over taking the Memogate controversy to the Supreme Court in 2011.

Wearing a black coat, Nawaz had literally jolted Zardari and Company about eight years ago by moving the apex court. And then we can all recall that in May 2018, Asif Ali Zardari had said the PML-N supremo, Nawaz Sharif, had been in politics for 30 years and was only an instrument of the establishment which worked against the elected and democratic governments. During the same month, the federal ministers belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had submitted their resignations to prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani.

However, the prime minister had politely refused to accept the resignations, saying the decision to accept or otherwise would be decided after the arrival of Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Ali Zardari. The ministers had submitted their resignations six weeks after the PMLN had joined the coalition government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party. The ministers had taken oath of office on March 31, 2008. In March 2019, Asif Ali Zardari’s son Bilawal had met the imprisoned Nawaz Sharif at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail and inquired about his health. And not long ago, on December 9, 2021, Shehbaz Sharif had condemned Asif Ali Zardari's statement about Nawaz Sharif and termed it "unfortunate."

Following his party’s defeat in a by-election that took place in the NA-133 constituency of Lahore, Zardari had claimed that when Nawaz came to power, he had shrunk the constituencies, leading to the PPP loss. "When it was a larger constituency, Benazir Bhutto had won from here,” Zardari was quoted as saying.