Discord escalates, dissent simmers as PPP struggles to reorganise

Intraparty elections on hold as K-P leaders reject phase-wise polls

PESHAWAR: Caught up in internal wrangling, Pakistan Peoples Party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has not only failed to hold intraparty elections, but the much-hyped online membership drive has been put on hold till differences are settled.

Party insiders are open about dissenting voices within their own cabinet and the parallel power structures that have hindered progress. Meanwhile, intraparty elections announced for five districts could not materialise as some provincial leaders rejected the central administration’s demands for phase-wise polls. They also raised fingers at an online drive that registered new members, saying it would lead to nepotism.

The problem has been acknowledged by PPP’s K-P chapter Senior Vice President Najmuddin Khan. He told The Express Tribune party leaders in the province have rejected the central leadership’s recommendation to hold intraparty polls phase wise. Najmuddin said, they demanded polls be held across the board in one go.

In September 2015, the party leadership formed a three -member committee to hold intraparty elections. The members included Senator Farhatullah Babar, Professor N D Khan and Aurangzeb Burki. The committee was tasked with formulating a policy within three weeks.

Stuck in the middle

Political workers of the party remain quashed between party rivalries. The younger lot thinks PPP needs a new face and a complete overhaul.

The continuous references to Bilalwal Bhutto Zardari are what have kept hopes alive.  Many think he is the one person who will be able to unite the party leadership, but that has not happened thus far.

“The differences were not even discussed during his visit to Peshawar,” a party insider says. “Even some senior party members did not attend the meeting that was held at the house of former governor Masood Kausar just a day before Bilawal’s visit to Peshawar.”

Going offline

A K-P party leader, when contacted, said there were several differences in the party ranks which need to be resolved. Referring to the online drive, he said it turned into a controversy after some party leaders objected that it would bring in people who were allied to certain political figures.

“PPP in the province is divided into two main groups; those favouring provincial president Khanzada Khan and those favouring his opposition.” The party leader said the loyalties of some smaller factions wavered according to the central leadership’s decisions. “It’s a local power nexus,” he said.

Najmuddin, on the other hand, said the online party membership drive had not come to a complete halt. He recommended a member of the central leadership and district leaders, who were not contesting intraparty polls, should scrutinise the lists and make visits to guarantee a consensus.

Currently, the party is moving for elections in three union councils of Mardan alone. The contestants, as decided, are those who got party tickets for the local government elections.

However, critics and supporters alike are of the opinion that it will take a larger effort for the party to gain momentum in K-P’s political scene. The central leadership, however, has organised a number of planned visits to the province in the next two months.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st,  2015.