Pulling up the PPP

While Mr Zardari’s speech was a highly ill-advised one, the fact is that Pakistan’s political arena needs the PPP

Right now, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) seems to have been flung out at the mainstream of politics and thrown virtually to the ground from where it seems to be attempting to pick itself up, bit by bit. The emotional tirade given by former president and the party’s co-chairperson, Asif Ali Zardari, attacking the establishment has led to almost all other mainstream parties choosing to stay away from the PPP and challenge its place in the mainstream of politics. An iftar dinner hosted on June 19 by Mr Zardari was attended only by former allies of the party when it was in government, including the MQM, the ANP, the JUI-F and the PML-Q. Some of the leaders of these parties even arrived late while other parties, though invited, chose to stay away altogether.



Meanwhile, PPP leaders have been trying to either explain or backtrack from Mr Zardari’s statement, stating that the PPP respected the military and the army chief, and had always backed Operation Zarb-e-Azb. There will be many who will be gloating over what is being interpreted as the downfall of the PPP. These include its political opponents as well as others strongly opposed to the party for other reasons. While Mr Zardari’s speech was a highly ill-advised one and much of the criticism directed at his party in its aftermath is justified, the fact is that Pakistan’s political arena needs the PPP. We need it because it is a party that in the past has shown that it represents all parts of the country and is capable of pulling the federation together, even if because of its own shenanigans it is now only limited to Sindh. We need the PPP because in many matters it offers a different ideological view from that of the current ruling party and also the PTI, which has emerged as the other main player on the political scene. The PPP urgently needs to work towards resurrecting itself. It can do this by first of all examining why its governance in Sindh has been such a mess and attempting to correct this. It must also examine the issue of alleged corruption and criminality within its ranks. It has no other choice but to do this if it wants to be a national force again.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd,  2015.

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