Has PPP lost it all?
So far the PPP was supposed to have only one problem i.e., the lack of public support especially in Punjab. Now the party’s internal situation should also worry its leadership. On Sunday two factions of its Punjab chapter raised noisy slogans against each other while Asif Ali Zardari presided over a small gathering at Bilawal House, Lahore, on the 47th anniversary of the party. This indicated a failure to resolve the differences within PPP over its policy regarding PML-N. The public display of internal rivalries was the last thing that one had expected on a day meant to commemorate the party’s achievements and to exhibit unity in its ranks.
Even more damaging was the absence of Bilawal Bhutto who was supposed to lead the foundation day ceremonies in Lahore. Many in the PPP saw their youthful chairman as the last hope in regaining the province. His absence was felt all the more acutely because after the successful Karachi public meeting his name was being used in the publicity of the foundation day celebrations. Unless he appears in the next meeting connected with the event on Tuesday, this would be considered an expression of sharp differences at the highest level of the party leadership which would demoralise PPP workers all over the country.
To many the arrangements made on November 30 remained uninspiring. At a time when only an all-out effort can revive the party all over the country and especially Punjab, the occasion could have been used to highlight the achievements of the PPP through an aggressive publicity campaign. One had also expected the party to put up a show of strength to revive the sagging morale of its sympathisers. Whatever attempt was made to publicise the event was paltry while holding the public rally was considered unnecessary. PPP cannot win back Punjab by relying only on highfalutin claims like the one by its Punjab president who said that on November 30 Lahore was ‘giving a look of the city of PPP’.
