When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rode to power for an unprecedented third time in June last year, many in the country had thought that he would be a changed man and not his old self.

They imagined that the decade he spent in exile would have chastened him and made him wiser in politics. Lately, his diction in riding over the challenge mounted by Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri to his power indicated to some — not all — that Nawaz Sharif is a changed, mature politician.

Skeptics are not sure if the change is for real or just tactical. After all, it is widely believed that only the equally unprecedented unity displayed by the political forces in the crisis saved Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from a forced retirement for the third time.

Even some senior PML-N leaders, in the inner sanctum of the ruling party, hold the view that their leadership admits making mistakes in the past but is not willing to learn from them.

In background, private discussions, these leaders rue that new ideas and a new generation of bureaucrats, media persons, businessmen and policy makers have emerged in the 15 years since a soft coup removed the PML-N’s “heavy mandate” government, but find the leadership in the same mould as before the fateful October 1999 day.

It was nothing short of a miracle to them that people returned Nawaz Sharif to rule the country for the third time.

Their worry is that his old style politics and governance are only creating problems for his government and party. “Poor performance of the government has spread restlessness and frustration in the ranks and file of our party,” said a senior PML-N office-bearer. “Nobody at the top is ready for introspection.”

People wiped out the PPP in the last general elections because it failed to deliver on its promises and only added to people’s woes.

“A cursory review of the first 16 months of the PML-N government only throws up stories of back-breaking inflation, unprecedented increase in electricity and gas prices, and shrinking employment opportunities,” said the official summarising the performance of his party’s government.

With Imran Khan and Dr Qadri continuing their campaigns, there is real concern in the PML-N ranks of a ground swell against the PML-N government, if the leadership did not improve things in the near future. “On the popularity side, the party has already hit the rock bottom. Multan bye-election, which saw Javed Hashmi defeated, should be a wake-up call for our leadership,” warned a PML-N leader.

Another leader of the party agreed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif needed to put his house in order before it becomes too late.

According to PML-N sources, he should start by sending home “non-performing members” of his cabinet. “Yes, there are some family members, and others carrying the label of ‘party stalwarts’, but the situation demands no quarter is given to non-performers for any reason,” said a PML-N MNA who does not see the prime minister any different from what he was during his two previous stints in the office.

“Better he change himself and soon. Opponents are already out after him with daggers drawn,” he warned.

According to him, Nawaz Sharif should have avoided putting his kith and kin in government positions. “Unfortunately, we in the PML-N are in the bad habit of concentrating powers in few hands. Foreigners are utterly surprised to know we don’t have full time defence, law, and foreign ministers.”

No wonder affairs of the party suffer the same negligence and mismanagement by the top party leadership, that is the two brothers, Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, and Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab.

The top decision making body of the PML-N, the Central Working Committee, last met to distribute party tickets prior to May 2013 general elections.

“For all practical purposes, there is no party on the ground,” remarked the party office-bearer.

“At this point and time when all political parties are having regular meetings of their office bearers, we have to wait for months to even shake hand with the party leaders.”

A party insider claimed that when the issue of organising the party was taken up with the senior party leaders, one of them responded, “party politics is only meant for elections and we still have well over three years for that and see how to counter PTI and PPP in 2018.”

Asked what if, for whatever reason, the party had to go into early elections, he replied: “We will see when the situation arises.”

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014