Bilawal set to make debut in parliament next year

PPP’s young chairman considering contesting polls simultaneously from Sindh and Punjab

ISLAMABAD: Young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, scion of the Bhutto family and chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), is set to make his debut in parliament most likely early next year.

To mark a noticeable entry into parliamentary politics, he is considering contesting polls from two provinces simultaneously – Sindh and Punjab. These ‘safe’ seats will be vacated by party members to make room for him to contest by-elections, according to the PPP leaders.

“The chairman has spoken his mind now. He might opt to contest from two seats to continue legacy of his grandfather and mother,” a close aide to Bilawal told The Express Tribune while sharing details of the party’s dinner meeting at Zardari House in Islamabad on Wednesday night.



Bilawal is likely to make a formal announcement next week on the eve of the party founding day celebrations starting from November 30 or on December 27 on the occasion of his mother’s death anniversary.

Sindh is the PPP’s traditional stronghold while it still has significant presence in some constituencies of South Punjab – albeit due to electable of area in its folds.

“The party will make a final decision after weighing all options,” a senior PPP leader said, adding that it has been decided in principle that Bilawal will be in the parliament early next year.

Bilawal’s possible entry into electoral politics has been making rounds for the past many months, but the PPP for the first time officially gave a clear hint at Bilawal’s entry into electoral politics.

“All present at the dinner expressed their views and requested chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to enter electoral politics so that credibility of parliamentary politics is strengthened,” party’s media office said.

Sharing details of the dinner meeting, the participants said some elected members offered Bilawal to contest on their traditional seats besides his family’s native constituency in Larkana.

“Punjab former governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood offered Bilwal to contest from NA-195 Rahim Yar Khan from where his son Makhdoom Syed Mustafa Mehmood is an MNA,” a PPP leader said.

Muhammad Ayaz Soomro who was elected from NA-204 Larkana had reportedly submitted his resignation to party leadership in case Bilawal has to contest from the constituency.

A strong group within PPP, especially from Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkwa where it has significantly conceded ground to the PTI, has been critical of their party’s performance in parliament especially in the National Assembly.

“We have little time left to revive the party and do away with the image of a friendly opposition” a PPP leader said. “Moreover, we also want our young chairman to have experience of parliamentary intrigues beforehand.”

Bilawal, now 28, was still a teenager when his mother and former two-time prime minister was assassinated in 2007 during an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

He was nominated the political heir of his mother, who had inherited the party from her father Zulifikar Ali Bhutto.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2016.