2013 Polls: My mother’s killers want to eliminate me, says Bilawal

Today, we are being attacked; corpses are being taken from our houses because we are not Zia’s remnants says...

KARACHI:

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said he is not leading his party’s election campaign and is, instead, assisting senior members.

“I wanted to contest polls living amongst you; I wanted to launch the election campaign in the streets of my country alongside my workers,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The young PPP chairman also said that the murderers of his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and mother Benazir Bhutto were now looking to eliminate him.

“Time has brought us at the same point from where we had started our journey; once again the enemies of peace and prosperity are standing in front of us. They belong to a specific mindset; PPP has fought against this mindset for the past five years and continues to fight it till today. I know that the supporters of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto are waiting anxiously for me, but we are at war against this mindset,” he said.

Bilawal further said, “Hindrances are being created in our way because we don’t have any friends sitting in higher institutions who can also give us ‘stay orders’ like others. Today, we are being attacked; corpses are being taken from our houses because we are not Zia’s remnants whose houses are being protected and with whom deals are being signed.”

Bilawal also went on to criticize Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leaders for having time and money to work on the Metro Bus project at the cost of the poor people of Punjab. “Where are the people who claim to have given rivers of milk and honey to the Punjab? Can’t they see the people of South Punjab who are facing many hardships due to the non-provision of basic facilities?”

“People are dying of hunger and poverty and you are doing the politics on the Sasti Rotti scheme,” he added.

Dejected members warned against contesting independently

Bilawal has warned dejected party members who announced they would independently contest the general elections to withdraw their names from seats within 24 hours, or else strict action would be taken against them.

His aunt, former MNA Faryal Talpur, issued a similar warning. “I do not want to hear any slogans against our party. Please do not be foolish. If anyone chants anti-PPP slogans, we will take action against them,” she said, as reported by a local TV channel, during an emotional speech in Kamber Shahdadkot district.

Sources in the party said that the internal rift between PPP leaders is getting worse by the day, prompting the party leadership to issue such warnings in fear that they may lose out in the upcoming polls.

The PPP leadership’s decision to form an alliance with its arch rivals in particular created resentment among some old guards. The disgruntled members are not willing to accept the party’s move to award tickets to newcomers. Various PPP leaders, including those from Kamber Shahdadkot, Larkana, Ghotki, Sukkur and Tharparkar, have decided to contest the elections as independent candidates against PPP’s nominees.  In Ghotki district, the party has allotted a majority of seats to members of the Mahar family who were earlier affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and only recently joined the PPP.

Out of the two national and four provincial assembly seats in Ghotki district, the PPP had allotted one national and two provincial assembly seats to the Mahar brothers. Later it awarded yet another National Assembly seat (NA 200) to the Mahar family withdrawing the ticket from its own candidate, Khalid Ahmed Lund, who has now announced he will contest elections independently.

Following Bilawal’s warning Jam Saifullah Dhareejo withdrew his decision to contest against Raja Mahar in Ghotki.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2013.