Pakistan People’s Party is a mainstream political party in the 342-seat national parliament, having governments in Sindh province as well as in Azad Jammu Kashmir region. the party, since its foundation in 1967, had been an influential political left-wing force in Pakistan. Once regarded as the most influential political party, the PPP is the largest opposition party in the national Assembly while it maintained its majority control of the Senate along with the post of chairman of the Parliament’s Upper house. Political commentators feel there is a dire need to restore the party with all its prestige and penetration at grass root level in other provinces. Currently, the party is nowhere near the level of power it exercised in the 1970s, when it swept the general election twice under the dynamic leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
In the movement to restore democracy, the PPP played a leading role in the 1980s and 1990s and swept the general elections under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the party came to power again in the 2008 general election, held under Pervez Musharraf, a powerful military ruler who remained in the presidency under the umbrella of a so-called democratic system. this was a golden period for the party as the PPP government under the leadership of Asif Ali Zardari was the first in Pakistan’s history to complete a full five-year term and transferred power at the ballot box.
Not accepting party’s mandate as in the past, some ‘hidden’ forces tried their best to continue a campaign against its leadership through private television channels and on social networking sites with false reports and exaggerated data. in the last general election, the party received a stunning defeat at national level as well as showed bad performance in other provinces and later in Gilgit-Baltistan. the party’s position is also not so good in the Azad Jammu Kashmir region after completion of year constitutional tenure in office.
Dissolving party organisations in all provinces, PPP recently set up five-member organising committees at the provincial level for preparing proposals for Bilawal Bhutto to reorganise the party within three months. For a political and democratic party, this process is routine work and acceptable to all within this system to deal with current and future challenges from district to provincial to national levels. During party meetings, rallies and comments on social networking sites, the PPP workers are showing their anger over the leadership of Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo who may be respectable but not acceptable to them. in Punjab, there is a clear demand from the party workers that the leadership crises in party’s provincial chapter should now be resolved after party’s not-so-good performance in local bodies’ as well as the last general election of 2013.
We have to admit this fact that Asif Zardari was an influential string-puller and the only powerful force after the 2008 election to push the military dictator out of power and to keep PPP in power for its full term despite a ruthless campaign. nowadays Zardari is rarely seen in public but his prolonged absence could have repercussions as the party seeks to rebuild from its election drubbing. Several former and current lawmakers and office holders are also speaking at full volume against the provincial president of the party. the party workers are also not happy over a resolution by Wattoo’s son in the Punjab Assembly regarding extension in service of the chief of army staff, as the party was always considered liberal, democratic and anti-establishment, having all roots in people.
Despite several instructions, the PPP provincial president couldn’t address reservations of the party workers besides no improvement in party’s popularity even in Lahore, the birth place of the party. Bilawal Bhutto will have to pay attention to these powerful voices during his stay in Punjab where the late Salmaan taseer as a party leader and as a governor always tried his best to show the presence of the party. now, the PPP needs a strong and dynamic political leader in the largest province of Pakistan so that the party can restart its journey along with true party workers and all support from its power hub – the people. the party workers always try to recommend the name of Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, Qamar Zaman Kaira and nadeem Afzal Chan as a potential new party president for Punjab. these leaders have strong grip among the people and they are able to understand ground realities not only in their areas but also on the provincial level. they have the ability ability to gather and motivate party workers as well as people in general to stand against undemocratic practices, lawlessness and public rights. On several occasions, the workers had asked the party chairman to shift his focus towards Punjab for good results in the next general election. Manzoor Wattoo had already made up his mind to step down as the party’s provincial head after the media reports that the PPP leadership is considering to replace him with a vibrant party leader. During this time, the workers have revolted many times against him, compelling the party leadership to replace him. Keeping an eye on the next general election due in 2018, the PPP leadership will have to consider the traditions of the centre-left, socialist-progressive, and social democratic political party which supports public ownership, egalitarianism, equality, and strong national defence. Like the past, Bilawal Bhutto will have to appeal to party’s estranged workers in Punjab to reconsider their decision to join other parties. the leadership can regain workers’ trust while accepting past mistakes.
