Splintering the party: Zulfiqar Mirza eyes new PPP faction

Former Sindh minister reaching out to other estranged PPP leaders

KARACHI: After falling out with the top leaders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Zulfiqar Mirza is weighing his options on crafting out another faction from the Asif Zardari-led party with the support of other estranged leaders.

“I am considering multiple options,” the former home minister of Sindh said, while speaking to the media on Sunday. “I can carve out another [PPP] group or support other parties that are considered against the Zardari-led PPP.  I want to see Bilawal leading the party, and expel those who have encroached upon his position.”

Mirza’s announcement comes just days after once-prominent PPP leader Safdar Ali Abbasi along with wife Naheed Khan and other party leaders formally launched a new political party – named Pakistan Peoples Party-Workers (PPP-W) – to “save the legacy of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and slain former chairperson Benazir Bhutto”.



Abbasi and his wife were both considered very close to Benazir, but were sidelined under the new leadership after she was assassinated on December 27, 2007.

Mirza also claims to have the support of many likeminded senior party leaders. Insiders told The Express Tribune that a few former MPAs belonging to Sukkur, Tharparkar, Larkana and Dadu who were not awarded party tickets in the last general elections had called on him at his Karachi house and extended their support.

Meanwhile, Sharjeel Memon, who was once a close aide to Mirza, said the former minister should learn from those PPP leaders who lost their credibility and political stature after leaving the party.

“The PPP remains united and those who want to give it a tough time are living in a fool’s paradise,” the Sindh local government minister said. “He can stage a drama but cannot get the sympathy of the masses.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2015.