An uphill climb awaits the twosome
If Bilawal’s ‘Go Nawaz go’ slogan was to remain as inaudible as his ‘Go Nisar go’ whispers, it would cause little worry to the PML-N. In view of its present organisational condition, the PPP cannot hope to gather big crowds. Punjab and Pakhtunkwa, which are required to provide maximum manpower for any credible protest in Islamabad, constitute PPP’s Achilles heel. Bilawal has issued a call for a ‘long march’ which will start from Sindh on December 27 if the four demands he has put up are not met. The call, he has pompously declared, is irrevocable
There is little attraction for the common man in these demands which include passage of the drafted Panama bill, immediate appointment of a permanent foreign minister, reconstitution of the parliamentary committee on national security, and implementation of the resolution on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passed by a multiparty conference. The PPP’s call for the proposed long march might attract whatever few activists still remain with it and a few truckloads of workers from Sindh. It would, however, fail to draw crowds from Punjab and KP – which play the key role in Islamabad-centered protests.
The PPP leadership has failed to put life into the party. Three and a half years after facing electoral debacle in three provinces, the party is still in the process of reorganisation. On Friday Qamar Zaman Kaira and Nadeem Afzal Chan were selected as President and as General Secretary of Central Punjab. Despite their unblemished record the two face an uphill task. Over the years the PPP has lost its identity. The slogans raised by Bilawal during the recent AJK elections reflected the ideological confusion prevailing in the party. There is a perception of the party being divided on its attitude towards the PML-N government. Unlike Sindh, the names of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir do not touch a chord with the youth in Punjab. There have been desertions from the party while numerous old timers have lost faith in PPP. Can the twosome revive the PPP?