Strings attached
July 15, 2021
Few men have occupied Lahore Mall Road's gubernatorial estate over successive terms of two different governments. Fewer still occupied that office after leaving behind a sound political legacy, and indeed dynasty, in a legislative assembly thousands of miles away.
The erstwhile member of parliament for Glasgow Govan and current Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar is one such man. His unassuming demeanour does not betray even an ounce of the political mileage he has garnered as a Scottish and later Pakistani legislator.
But what makes him such an invaluable asset for Pakistan’s political class? In January 2014, he proved his mettle by being a key interlocutor between Pakistan and the European Union (EU). His efforts bore considerable fruit when Pakistan was bestowed with the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status allowing our economy to benefit from the complete exemption of 66 percent of monies owed along EU tariff lines when conducting trade with member states, alongside other benefits.