PPP in bid to shed ‘friendly opposition’ tag
Party’s top cadre in Punjab tasked with building new narrative
PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
It’s too early to write an epitaph for Pakistan Peoples Party. Like the mythical Phoenix, the party is rising from the ashes. And its young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is desperately trying to reclaim some of his party’s lost glory. The party, which has been labelled as a ‘friendly opposition’ for its ‘wheeling and dealing’ with the PML-N government, is now repackaging itself as an aggressive political adversary for the ruling Sharifs.
Nawaz dragging Pakistan deeper into debt, says Bilawal
The battleground will be Punjab, the political powerhouse of the country. The PPP’s top hierarchy has tasked its newly anointed provincial leadership with building a new narrative to undo the damage done by the party’s so-called policy of political reconciliation. Bilawal, who is giving the party a makeover, will be introducing a new generation of jiyalas in the second and third tier leadership.
The new PPP Punjab chapter chief, Qamar Zaman Kaira, is fine-tuning plans for a protest movement Bilawal has announced against the government. Next week Bilawal will be in Lahore for the party’s week-long founding day celebrations. “If we fail to show our relevance by March or April, we should forget the 2018 general elections, at least in Punjab” a member of PPP’s inner sanctum admits candidly.
Until 2008, the PPP had been a potent political force in Punjab – the province that sends 148 lawmakers to the federal legislature which then elects the prime minister. However, the party has conveniently ceded political ground to the PML-N and PTI over the past few years. Today, it has only three MNAs from Punjab – and they, too, belong to South Punjab where it is the weight of a personality, not a party, that ropes in votes.
A mere ‘Bhutto slogan’ is not enough to attract votes in Punjab anymore, says a leader who is a part of the PPP’s core team in the new party set-up. “The realisation is sinking in that the party will have to come up with something different, something novel besides building an anti-Sharif rhetoric in Punjab,” adds the leader, who wishes not to be identified. “There will be some calculated attacks on PTI as well.”
Bilawal has threatened to lead a protest march, if the government does not accept his four demands by December 27. One of the demands is smooth sailing for a bill PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan has moved in the upper house of parliament outlining modalities for a Panamagate inquiry. The proposed law envisages that the investigation should start with the Sharif family – something the government is unlikely to acquiesce to.
Have received many marriage proposals: Bilawal Bhutto
The Panamagate scandal is already in the Supreme Court. The PPP believes the scandal has significantly dented the credibility of the ruling Sharif family. And the party thinks it can easily cash in on the scam irrespective of the top court verdict in the case.
The PPP’s strategy would be to target the Shahbaz Sharif-led provincial government on issues of the common man. The party would turn the spotlight on the dismal healthcare system, poor education facilities, plight of peasants and impending shortages of natural gas in the freezing winter.
“We’d be visiting hospitals and other government facilities.
We’d highlight the ordeal of the common man under the Sharifs’ rule while, on the other hand, we’d expose corruption in mega projects,” says another PPP leader while outlining the party’s strategy.
The PPP is not in a position to put up a big show, but it would make ‘smart’ use of its workers and whatever street power it can muster. “You hardly need a few hundred people to block important roads in big cities.
And this is not a big deal for us” he says.
Through its protest, the PPP would try to build a new narrative for itself and exploit weaknesses of the PML-N. This would a daunting, if not impossible, task for the newly installed PPP cadre, given that the party carries a huge baggage of bad governance during its last five-year stint in power.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2016.
It’s too early to write an epitaph for Pakistan Peoples Party. Like the mythical Phoenix, the party is rising from the ashes. And its young chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is desperately trying to reclaim some of his party’s lost glory. The party, which has been labelled as a ‘friendly opposition’ for its ‘wheeling and dealing’ with the PML-N government, is now repackaging itself as an aggressive political adversary for the ruling Sharifs.
Nawaz dragging Pakistan deeper into debt, says Bilawal
The battleground will be Punjab, the political powerhouse of the country. The PPP’s top hierarchy has tasked its newly anointed provincial leadership with building a new narrative to undo the damage done by the party’s so-called policy of political reconciliation. Bilawal, who is giving the party a makeover, will be introducing a new generation of jiyalas in the second and third tier leadership.
The new PPP Punjab chapter chief, Qamar Zaman Kaira, is fine-tuning plans for a protest movement Bilawal has announced against the government. Next week Bilawal will be in Lahore for the party’s week-long founding day celebrations. “If we fail to show our relevance by March or April, we should forget the 2018 general elections, at least in Punjab” a member of PPP’s inner sanctum admits candidly.
Until 2008, the PPP had been a potent political force in Punjab – the province that sends 148 lawmakers to the federal legislature which then elects the prime minister. However, the party has conveniently ceded political ground to the PML-N and PTI over the past few years. Today, it has only three MNAs from Punjab – and they, too, belong to South Punjab where it is the weight of a personality, not a party, that ropes in votes.
A mere ‘Bhutto slogan’ is not enough to attract votes in Punjab anymore, says a leader who is a part of the PPP’s core team in the new party set-up. “The realisation is sinking in that the party will have to come up with something different, something novel besides building an anti-Sharif rhetoric in Punjab,” adds the leader, who wishes not to be identified. “There will be some calculated attacks on PTI as well.”
Bilawal has threatened to lead a protest march, if the government does not accept his four demands by December 27. One of the demands is smooth sailing for a bill PPP Senator Aitzaz Ahsan has moved in the upper house of parliament outlining modalities for a Panamagate inquiry. The proposed law envisages that the investigation should start with the Sharif family – something the government is unlikely to acquiesce to.
Have received many marriage proposals: Bilawal Bhutto
The Panamagate scandal is already in the Supreme Court. The PPP believes the scandal has significantly dented the credibility of the ruling Sharif family. And the party thinks it can easily cash in on the scam irrespective of the top court verdict in the case.
The PPP’s strategy would be to target the Shahbaz Sharif-led provincial government on issues of the common man. The party would turn the spotlight on the dismal healthcare system, poor education facilities, plight of peasants and impending shortages of natural gas in the freezing winter.
“We’d be visiting hospitals and other government facilities.
We’d highlight the ordeal of the common man under the Sharifs’ rule while, on the other hand, we’d expose corruption in mega projects,” says another PPP leader while outlining the party’s strategy.
The PPP is not in a position to put up a big show, but it would make ‘smart’ use of its workers and whatever street power it can muster. “You hardly need a few hundred people to block important roads in big cities.
And this is not a big deal for us” he says.
Through its protest, the PPP would try to build a new narrative for itself and exploit weaknesses of the PML-N. This would a daunting, if not impossible, task for the newly installed PPP cadre, given that the party carries a huge baggage of bad governance during its last five-year stint in power.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2016.