MULTAN The City

Reorganisation of party at grassroots level
South Punjab PPP meets today
From Nadeem Shah
MULTAN: The Pakistan People’s Party after long time has convened its first meeting of southern Punjab chapters and invited all district, tehsil, city and town office-bearers at a local hotel on Saturday, with the objective of reorganising the party at the grassroots level.
South Punjab PPP newly-nominated president Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood will preside over the session, while former premier Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will be the chief guest. PPP workers are going to meet first time since the shameful defeat in the last general elections, which had washed out the PPP from the parliamentary politics. The PPP could secure only three National Assembly slots, out of 50 in southern region. PPP president Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood was the Punjab governor during the last general elections and had resigned by accepting his responsibility.
The PML-N made a clean sweep in the entire region and captured majority seats in the PPP constituencies. The PPP secured 23 seats out of 50 constituencies in the region, but went lost in 2013, capturing only three seats. Differences have developed among the PPP workers over the politics of reconciliation between the PPP and the PML-N. They have conveyed the party leadership that the PPP would lose in Punjab due to the reconciliatory politics.
The PPP has been facing three key challenges in south Punjab - nomination against vacant offices, especially the secretary general office, regaining the glory of parliamentary politics and mass mobilisation of inactive senior PPP cadres in the region. There is strong lingual polarisation between Seraiki and non-Seraiki groups in Southern Punjab as Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood belongs to pure Seraiki-speaking family from Bahawalpur division. It is believed that the PPP South Secretariat would be established in Multan due to its location between Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions.
The nomination of non-Seraiki worker against the secretary general office would be more suitable for party, creating a lingual balance in the party organisation. The PPP needs a seasoned, a professional, committed and experienced worker for secretary general office, the workers opined.
They said that the second top slot was information office, which was expected to be appointed from Multan because a majority media of houses are located in Multan and it will be more approachable access to the media in a short time. “Workers from Dera Ghazi Khan might be accommodated as senior vice-president, joint secretary or finance office.”
They are of the view that the People’s Youth Organisation is almost dead and young blood is needed to be inducted in the PYO. “The People’s Lawyers’ Forum has been very active in the region as compared to the PPP women wing where offices are vacant since long. The PSF has vanished from students’ politics and the workers are optimistic about the activation of the PSF at all levels,” they added.
Workers say that a key challenge to the PPP is the establishment of party offices at the union council level and the central secretariat with its sizable budget to run the party chapters at grassroots level. “The PPP had established central office in the city and it was closed 26 years ago. Several party office-bearers have been occupying the offices for the last 18-22 years due to lack of party intervention and party elections.”
They suggested that the accountability of office-bearers should be done quarterly and all appointments must be done on merit. “The criteria for elevation to party ranks should be decided on the basis of contribution. Money and time are two major contributions from a worker in the party,” they said.