BB’s death anniversary: Bilawal Bhutto likely to skip mother’s anniversary

KARACHI: All arrangements have been finalised to observe the seventh death anniversary of Pakistan Peoples Party’s slain chairperson Benazir Bhutto on December 27, but the PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has opted not to attend the event.

For the first time, there will be no mega event in Garhi Khuda Bux and Naudero, where every year central executive committee (CEC) meeting of the party is held together with a big public gathering.

This year, the party has decided to commemorate the death anniversary of its former leader at divisional level rather than making it a national level event.



The PPP leaders and workers from Punjab will observe this event separately in Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad and other places including Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, where Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on this date in 2007.

Sources in the party said the PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, who was in London, arrived on Thursday night in order to attend the event along with provincial leadership of the party.

“We have planned a jalsa, but the CEC meeting will not be held,” the PPP Secretary Information for Sindh Waqar Mehdi said. He said that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has already reached Naudero to supervise arrangements for different events on the day.

Mehdi, however, was sure that both the party leaders – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari – will arrive at Naudero House.  But Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inam Memon was of the view that doctors in London have advised Bilawal to refrain from travelling as he is not feeling well.

On the other hand, the PPP’s South Punjab President Makhdoom Shahabuddin told The Express Tribune that for the first time the PPP Jyalas from Punjab will not go to Gardi Khuda Bux due to dense fog and severe cold. “Looking at the weather condition, we have been asked to arrange the events at district and divisional levels,” he said.

Makhdoom dispelled the impression that there are differences between Bilawal and his father Asif Ali Zardari.

When asked about the party’s re-organisation as announced by Bilawal in his October 18 Jalsa in Karachi, he said: “A leader – who knows the workers as well as local leaders – can organise the party in a better way. Bilawal is new in politics. He can do it better under the supervision and guidance of his father,” he remarked.

On the other hand, there were reports that the PPP Parliamentarian President Makhdoom Amin Fahim has linked his participation in the death anniversary of Benazir with the presence of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Sources in the party said the PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has phoned Fahim and both the leaders are likely to meet in Karachi on Thursday night.

“Zardari will try to address the grievances expressed by Amin Fahim,” a senior leader in the PPP said, adding that December 27 event in Larkana will now be a Sindh-based event.

Meanwhile, strict security measures have been taken in Naudero and Garhi Khuda Bux, where police personnel from Karachi and other districts have been called to ensure security at the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2014.