Nawaz
Sharif set to push through plans to curb power of generals, bolster economy and
improve relations with India
By Jon Boone in Lahore, Jason Burke in
Delhi and Emma
Graham-Harrison in Kabul
 |
Photograph: Shakil Adil/AP
Supporters of Nawaz Sharif celebrate his win in Karachi. Results suggest he will only need the support of a handful of independent candidates to secure a working majority in parliament. |
The full scale of Nawaz Sharif's thumping victory in Pakistan's general
election became clear on Sunday, making it far more likely the country's next
prime minister will be able to govern without coalition deals and be free to
push through what supporters see as a potentially revolutionary agenda.
Besides overhauling a
moribund economy, Sharif, with his conservative Pakistan Muslim League, wants
to end his country's decades-old feud with India and put Pakistan's meddlesome
generals in their place.
It is a programme that
has won him fans even among left-leaning critics who oppose his conservatism.
It has also raised hopes in India and Afghanistan.
Although the final results
are still days away, projections by Pakistani television stations suggested
that Sharif would only need to secure the support of a handful of independent
candidates, rather than rival parties, to secure a working majority in
parliament.
On Sunday, Sharif was
holed up in his luxury estate in Lahore working to form a government. Party
sources said he hoped to be able to achieve this long before the two weeks
allowed by the constitution.
"We have a very
ambitious agenda for the first 100 days and we want to hit the ground
running," said Tariq Azeem, Sharif's spokesman.
Barack Obama
congratulated Pakistan on the completion of the election and said the US would
work with the country's new government as an equal partner.
"The United
States stands with all Pakistanis in welcoming this historic peaceful and
transparent transfer of civilian power, which is a significant milestone in
Pakistan's democratic progress," President Obama said in a statement.
"By conducting
competitive campaigns, freely exercising your democratic rights, and
persevering despite intimidation by violent extremists, you have affirmed a
commitment to democratic rule that will be critical to achieving peace and
prosperity for all Pakistanis for years to come."
Sharif, a billionaire
steel magnate who came into politics under the wing of a military dictator in
the 1980s, is an unlikely symbol of radical change in Pakistan.
During his previous
period in government he ordered the abduction of a newspaper editor who had
criticised him and pushed to introduce sharia law.
"He has evolved
ever since he was sent into exile," said Mehmal Sarfraz, from the South
Asian Free Media Association, referring to the 1999 military coup, led by the
former army chief Pervez Musharraf, which forced Sharif to quit Pakistan.
Sharif distrusts the
country's generals – who have toppled three governments since Pakistan was
created in 1947, control vast economic interests and call the shots on the
country's foreign policy.
But despite the
military's muscle, Sharif has made it clear – including in interviews with
Indian journalists who have taken a close interest in his campaign – that the
army is constitutionally subservient to civilian politicians.
Sharif's ability to
reach out across the political divide was reflected by the actions of Ayesha
Siddiqa, a prominent academic and analyst, who said that when she went to the
polling station on Saturday she had been intending to vote for the
left-of-centre Pakistan Peoples party (PPP).
"I've always been
a PPP supporter and yet I ended up voting for Sharif because who else is there?
He is the only leader that will try and take back some power from [the
military] establishment."
The military may
resent any assertion of civilian power, particularly in the run-up to the end
of Nato's combat mission next year in Afghanistan, a country where Pakistan's
military spies – for reasons of grand strategy designed to limit Indian
influence in the region – formerly played a key role in bringing the Taliban to
power in the 1990s.
Sharif has talked of
leaving Afghans to make their own decisions. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's
president, said on Sunday he had approved of Sharif's campaign rhetoric that
had "urged friendship and co-operation with Afghanistan".
However, critics of
Sharif say he is too soft on Pakistani extremists and even militant groups that
are ideologically close to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, preferring to
avoid confrontation with them.
Kickstarting
Pakistan's sluggish economy, which is particularly weighed down by crippling
energy shortages, is central to Sharif's entire programme.
He hopes to bolster
growth partly by boosting the feeble levels of trade with India, which would
also help improve relations between two countries that have fought three major
wars against each other since 1947.
"All parties want
peace with India," said Safraz. "But only Sharif can deliver because,
as a rightwing Punjabi nationalist, his patriotism cannot be questioned. If he
was in the PPP, he would have been called a traitor."
Sharif has said he
wants to see a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict and has promised to
ensure attacks against India are not launched from Pakistan.
Staffers at the
politician's campaign headquarters told the Guardian in April that Sharif, seen
as close to Pakistan's conservative Islamists by many in Delhi, had always been
pro-Indian. "He started as a businessman after all," one said.
As results came in on
Saturday night, Sharif reminded reporters he had worked to lessen tensions with
India before his ousting by Musharraf. "We'll pick [up] the threads where
we left," he said.
Manmohan Singh,
India's prime minister, spoke to Sharif on Sunday and invited him to visit
India at "a mutually convenient time".
Fixing Pakistan's
economic woes, however, will require policies – not least expansion of the tax
net so more people pay – that could prove unpopular with Sharif's own
business-world supporters.
He will also have to
cut unaffordable electricity subsidies, perhaps raising the price for already
hard-pressed consumers, as well as undertake radical surgery on Pakistan's
bloated public companies, including the national airline.
