Still a political spring chicken
It is understandable that the young PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto should be keen to carve out a place for himself in Pakistani politics. He needs to realise that political mantles are not simply inherited but have to be earned. This explains why despite Pakistan being a male dominated society, ZAB’s mantle was passed on to Benazir rather than Murtaza Bhutto. Two qualities that distinguished Benazir were political wisdom combined with unusual courage. Bilawal has yet to prove he has his mother’s qualities. He is bound to be keenly watched by many as he enters the election campaign next year.
Two recent statements by the PPP Chairman have raised eyebrows. A few days back he expressed the hope that women will have majority seats in Pakistan, forgetting that in a house of over 340 only 18 women succeeded to win the open seats in 2008 elections in Pakistan while about sixty were nominated on reserved seats by political parties. Even in the vast majority of the educationally and socially advanced democracies, women remain in a minority in the legislatures. What is required from a major politician are achievable and sustainable promises instead of reiteration of ideals that may take decades to realise.
Bilawal is right to hold Musharraf responsible for Benazir’s murder. Enough evidence is available to show that Musharraf was directly or indirectly involved in the act. This required the detention of the former military ruler in Pakistan. That, with a PPP government in power, the suspect was allowed to leave the country with full protocol needs some explanation from the PPP Chairman. In fact, many more explanations are needed. Why did PPP agree to bring into the ruling coalition parties which provided political moorings to Musharraf? The leader of one of the parties had in fact vowed to elect the general several times as a president in uniform. The other party was, according to Benazir, involved in May 12 massacre in Karachi at the instance of Musharraf. The dependence on Musharraf’s confidantes continues with Fawwad Choudhry being appointed as the prime minister’ legal advisor. Under the circumstances, Bilawal’s statement would sound hollow.