Another show of strength
It is the season of political rallies, so an even larger than usual turnout at the death anniversary of slain two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto was expected. The ruling party wanted to swing for the fences and the turnout was sizeable. Though it might not have been as TV-friendly an affair as the PTI rally in Karachi from a couple of days ago, here, too, the attendees were genuine supporters, many of them having travelled from as far as KP for this annual rite. The enduring allure of the Bhutto dynasty is the stuff political anthropologists’ academic papers are made out of. It continually serves to annoy ad nauseum the more “sophisticated” of political observers.
But yesterday’s posturing, as mentioned earlier, was not about the death anniversary. It was all about politics. It was the president’s first major address after returning from his treatment in Dubai, a trip that had set the rumour mills on fire. This was a show of strength and the party leadership wanted to use it well. The president’s questioning the chief justice about the status of the BB murder case was an attempt to deflect the accusation that usually surface this time of the year about an indifference to the case; the PPP’s newest stance, it seems, is that the issue is not in their control.
There were the usual lines, repeated with force of late, of the party’s intention to complete its term in power. The president also invited semi-estranged PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan to make the speech following his, where the latter swore his loyalty to the party, putting to rest rumours of his joining the PTI.
But a rally stage that becomes a mutual admiration society does not win elections. The PPP has to take stock of the fact that there is much resentment against their government, especially on the economic front. True, there is a global recession. True, inflation, especially that of food and fuel, is a global phenomenon. But such defences don’t hold water in the voters’ framework; it has to be conceded that there have been huge gaps on the governance front.