Bilawal won’t contest National Assembly seat

Instead he will focus on reorganising the PPP and help it regain lost ground

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has decided to forego any chance to contest a National Assembly seat, choosing instead to reorganise the party in the face of a wave of defections.

“Bilawal, who had decided to bounce back in the national politics to reorganise the party and save it from further disaster, was advised to contest the National Assembly election and replace the sitting leader of opposition Khursheed Shah,” sources in the PPP told The Express Tribune.

Read: Political victimisation: Bilawal meets PPP Gujranwala members

They said that the advice for contesting elections was given  Bilawal so that he can get a firmer grip on national issues, however, the PPP chairman decided to concentrate on improving the party affairs and steer it out of crises first and reposition it for a comeback in national politics.

“The party which is faced with continuous crises since ouster from power needs to get attention of the party chairman who remained aloof from party affairs due to differences with his father [Asif Ali Zardari] and co-chairman of the party,” the sources said.

They said that Bilawal decided to focus on revamping of PPP because a good number of senior party leaders from Punjab had joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf while there are rumours that more will part ways from the party.

“After suffering a setback in the last general elections, the party could not reconcile its position due to lack of interest of its leaders enjoying various positions,” the sources said. “South Punjab is the area which was considered as the stronghold of the PPP but now the party is losing its foot there as well.

Read: Bilawal to visit every district, constituency to address grievances of party leaders

Senator Farhatullah Babar while talking to The Express Tribune said, “Makhdoom Shahabuddin is the president of the PPP in South Punjab, but this particular area needs much more attention for the party to regain its lost ground.”

Meanwhile, the sources said, Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo has also failed to deliver in Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2015.