The PPP and the political landscape

Under the stewardship of Bilawal Bhutto, the PPP held the celebrations of its 49th Foundation Day at Lahore, the birth place of the party, with an ostensible purpose to revive the fortunes of the party in Punjab and regain its lost glory.

Ever since the formal launch of Bilawal in the political arena, the party has been striving hard to present a new face of the party to the people, with promises of marked departure from its recent past. During the Foundation Day celebrations, Bilawal focused on taking a swipe at the PML-N government and threatening to launch a movement against the government if the demands of the PPP were not met, expressing the belief – like Imran Khan – that the tide triggered by the party would annihilate the government and the PPP would emerge triumphant in the next elections.

In the backdrop of the foregoing developments, the media and intelligentsia are engaged in a debate on whether the PPP would be able to re-emerge as a potent political force at the national level, and what factors were instrumental to its relegation to a provincial entity. With regard to the PPP losing appeal for the masses and the decline in the fortunes of the party, it is generally believed that to a great extent it was due to a vacuum of leadership in the party after the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto.

The PPP victory in the 2008 elections was a consequence of the sympathy vote in the backdrop of the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto. But after coming into power the PPP miserably failed to deliver. It mainly focused on survival and hardly did anything substantive to obstruct the rampant corruption or tide over the energy crisis. The saga of the Swiss accounts kept haunting the Zardari government, which sacrificed two prime ministers in the process. These are some of the major reasons that are believed to have contributed to the PPP’s rout in Punjab in the 2013 general elections. Even in southern Punjab, which was considered the bastion of the PPP’s political power in the province, the party fared very badly. Compared to the 20 seats out of 44 that the PPP obtained in the 2008 elections, in 2013 it had to contend with only two seats. And now only Sindh remains its stronghold.

One has to concede ungrudgingly that the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto were great leaders in their own right; they had exceptional charisma and popularity among the masses. It was Lahore where the PPP was born and the province of Punjab catapulted the party to dizzying heights under the inspiring leadership of Zulfikar Bhutto, whose legacy was carried forward by his daughter Benazir Bhutto.

Unfortunately, the PPP had no leader of the calibre of Benazir to carry forward the baton. The result was a nose-dive in the fortunes of the party. Even in Sindh, where the PPP had won a majority and was a ruling party, there are lingering tales of corruption charges. And, like other political entities and actors, the party was thought to also have a militant wing of its own – engaged in a turf war with other militant groups.

The question is whether, with that kind of unenviable legacy, the PPP – under Bilawal Bhutto Zardari – can turn the tables on the PML-N at the national level and dent its impregnable political position in the next elections, particularly in Punjab which has 148 National Assembly seats. Although in politics nothing can be said with certainty, yet going by the ground realities certain general observations can safely be made.

Some feel that Bilawal is not a leader of the calibre of his mother or grandfather. Though he tries to emulate the style of his grandfather,, as yet he is nowhere near the image of that great man.

Another debilitating factor for Bilawal is that he has not entered the political cauldron with any revolutionary narrative and vision that could distinguish him from other political leaders and parties. Like Imran he too has preferred to hurl unsubstantiated allegations against the PML-N leadership, instead of focusing on the challenges faced by the country and his vision to resolve them in a better way than the incumbent government.

This has not gone well with many, who are not impressed with his line of action. This was quite evident during the local bodies elections and AJK polls where he personally waged a vigorous campaign targeting the prime minister and the PML-N. People gave their verdict through the ballot box. Under the prevailing situation, there seems hardly any possibility of the PPP becoming a threat to the PML-N government. Punjab is surely not going to participate in any agitation against the government.

The ground reality is that the PML-N is the most popular political party of the country, notwithstanding the rhetoric of its political opponents and some in the media who are essentially hostile to the sitting government. The best touchstone to judge the popularity and vote bank of a political party in a democratic dispensation is the ballot box. The party has repeatedly shown its political prowess in the polls.

Supporters of the party feel that the success of the PML-N is attributable to the performance of its government during the last three years. It has the had distinction of launching a decisive battle against terrorists through Operation Zarb-e-Azb and dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in North Waziristan and also dealing with sleeper cells of terrorist outfits, their sympathisers and members of the proscribed entities through NAP. It can also rightly claim credit for initiating a targeted operation in Karachi.

The government is also feverishly working on tackling the energy crisis, and power outages have been reduced to the minimum. Looking at the new power projects initiated under the CPEC – which are likely to be completed during 2017 and 2018 – it can be safely inferred that by the next elections the country will be out of this precarious situation. The revival of the flagging economy and the success of macro-economic reforms, which have been endorsed by almost all the international lending and evaluating agencies, also go in favour of the government and strengthen its chances of winning the next elections on the basis of its overall performance.

As against this, neither the PPP nor the PTI have anything worthwhile to show for themselves. They also do not possess a magic wand to scuttle these ground realities. It would, therefore, be advisable for both of them to stop wasting their energies on removing the government through agitation, and instead focus on strengthening the democratic process and bringing desired changes in the system of governance in collaboration with the ruling party.

They must not forget that as opposition parties they have a duty to work for the people of the country, rising above their narrow political gains while of course retaining their right to aim for reaching the corridors of power through public franchise.

The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: ashpak10@gmail.com