Nawaz Sharif Under Siege

Nawaz Sharif has the unique distinction of being elected as the country’s prime minister for a record three times. But each time he was removed unceremoniously half way through his term. He was elected to the country’s highest political office for the third time in 2013 general elections.

But he remained in perpetual conflict with the military. That mostly had to do with past baggage of mutual distrust. It was difficult for Sharif to let go of events following the 1999 coup, when he was taken out of the Prime Minister’s House, handcuffed and put on trial for treason.

The confrontation turned more ominous with Sharif’s decision to put military ruler and his nemesis General Musharraf on trial on treason charges. Civil and military tensions cast a huge shadow over the country’s political landscape throughout that period. The unfolding of the Panama Papers scandal brought his downfall. A major consequence of the ‘Panamagate’ scandal was the changing balance of power among various branches of the state that influenced the political course of the country.

This book, collection of my columns published in Dawn covers the events in Pakistan from May 2013 to June 2017. It is a story of rise and fall of Nawaz Sharif’s third government and his conflict with the military.