Bilawal’s Tweet to Party Reflects PPP’s New Approach
By Salahuddin Haider
Karachi, Pakistan

 

Bilawal Bhuto’s latest tweet, asking party workers to tighten screws on Nawaz Sharif, and not allow him to go scot free, depicts a new approach in the party’s bid to recapture its place in the Punjab, but the road is risky and fraught with all kinds of eventualities.

It also shows a power struggle within the party as to whether the present system of co-sharing between father and son, on since Bilawal’s entry into politics after completing education abroad, should be retained or whether to sideline Asif Zardari, and let the young fiery son have total control over an organization which has once been really popular, but which over the years has lost vibrancy because of the father’s ill-conceived approach to politics.

Equally powerful arguments can be cited for and against the above-mentioned analysis, and if classified as a classic case of hawks and doves concept, it won’t be wrong. People like Senator Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, vocal and outspoken, had been aggressively pleading at party platform for sidelining Asif Zardari, and letting a new generation leadership take over.

He is not alone in demanding such a change. There are many in the Punjab who think that the party had suffered immeasurable damage in the country’s principal Punjab province because of the “faulty” policies of Asif Zardari, who swept sympathy votes because of Benazir’s assassination in December 2007, to become the President of the country, a position which he could not imagine in his wildest dreams .

Asif’s own contribution to securing that envious honor was zero. He hardly had anything to do with party policies, especially after he was arrested in the wake of Benazir government’s dismissal, on November 4, 1996. He remained imprisoned for eight long years during which he had nothing to do with the PPP. Benazir, his wife, too, preferred self-exile but handled party affairs with remarkable dexterity from Dubai, the commercial capital of UAE.

Later on, to escape trial in a Swiss court over kickbacks and commissions, he got himself admitted to a New York hospital in America, where his old classmate Dr Asim Hussain, took care of him as his personal physician. Benazir, visiting America, on lecture or private trips, saw him in hospital, and sometime was unable to do that because of other commitments.

Dr Asim, running a prestigious institution like Ziauddin Hospital and University in district central, took full advantage of his friendship with Zardari, and expanded his assets enormously during Benazir’s second stint as country’s prime minister, and during Zardari’s Presidency to build new branches of the Hospital in posh Clifton, and is now accused of building specialized faculties on plots, secured allegedly illegally, or buying at throwaway prices from their owners under duress.  He is currently facing charges of embezzling a massive Rs 462 billions, while Zardari is resting in London or Dubai, the latter being a “safe heaven” for owners of illegal wealth.

After five years of misrule, during which the country was left totally unattended, and its progress or welfare neglected wholesale, Zardari saw Peoples Party annihilated in the Punjab, which its founder chairman, Z A Bhutto considered the “bastion of power” in the 70s, and where Benazir twice won elections to rule the country twice. PPP suffered the ignominy of defeat in 2013, and shrunk to its ethnic base of Sindh, but there too it may find it difficult to retain its popularity, because of maladministration. Sindh has multiple rule philosophy, the chief minister being a rubber stamp, and Zardari or his sister Faryal calling the shots. The province is in ruins, victim of deliberate neglect and complete mismanagement.

Now that Bilawal has come of age, and qualifies to be in the parliament, he has taken over control of the party, often disagreeing with his father, preferring an aggressive and hostile approach towards Nawaz or his PML-N party. The idea is to dismantle his opponents. He has therefore tweeted his party to chase Nawaz out of power, not allow him to go scot free from the Panama leaks problem, and side with the opposition alliance, even if it meant taking to the streets.

However, party icons in the Punjab feel that Zardari’s approach and handling of party affairs, has to end now. They want Bilawal to take over the party without sharing power with anyone. But the party suffers from a bad image because of people like Manzoor Watoo, Yusuf Reza Gilani, and Raja Pervez Ashraf. They have a tainted image. Yusuf Reza Gilani was disqualified by the Supreme Court for hiding Zardari’s assets in Swiss Banks, and Raja Pervez Ashraf is still to explain as to where Rs 22 billion had gone in the last few days of his authority as the country’s prime minister.

But Aitzaz Ahasan has a reputation, and so has Sherry Rehman and Raza Rabbani. Although the last two belong to Sindh, they have national appeal and can contribute immensely to restoring the party’s image not only in the Punjab, but in the entire country.

That being the situation, the party has to decide its future approach, but time is of essence. Not many months are left between now and the next elections in summer 2018. The party has to encapsulate time and work within a short span to regain its lost prestige and popularity. The task is difficult but has to be accomplished. There is no other option for Bilawal or his supporters.