Is the PPP a sinking ship?

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto swayed from being a revolutionary to a reactionary, while agitation underwrote his politics whatever his state of mind and politics. From the idealism of 1967 when he first conceived the PPP as a progressive, liberal political platform to his final days in power in 1977, when he found common cause with the conservative feudal(s) he came a full circle from having begun his career in government under a military dictator. Yet the PPP was always recognised for its libertarianism and progressive politics, which remained the party’s ideological ethos.
The PPP was the party of the poor and that is why it has held on to its foundational vote of 15 percent over the decades. When it scores less its voters have stayed back, as in the 2013 elections; when it scores its foundational votes there are always chances that the floating 13-15 percent too will come its way. But when its own voter turns its back on the party there are little chances that anyone else will venture out in its support. That is when there is something seriously wrong with the party. As in the 2013 elections.
Under BB the party became a romance. Romance of the Bhuttos; of BB herself, ‘a nihatti larki’ up in agitation against the cruel murderers of her father and those out to exploit the masses for their institutional and familial interests. Gradually her own brilliance emerged which reinforced the charisma of both intellect and dynamism that had become associated with ZAB. In BB, ZAB and his legacy lived on. And that captured the imagination of many; those who could relate to ZAB while in the times of BB.
The PPP survived despite the negatives that began to grow in the decade of the 90s surrounded by allegations and court cases of sleaze and corruption. Many have stuck – and sadly were mostly true. But it was always her brilliance that shown through breaching the increasingly marred face of what once was the party of ideological conviction, and of the poor.
When in 2007 she returned to Pakistan following an NRO with Musharraf, to many – believers in the ideological ethos of the party – it was that moment when she, wisened by adversity, would simply wash off the darkened blots of sleaze and recreate the party in its true colours. Sadly, that remained a wish; she never got that opportunity. Maybe she wouldn’t have, but Pakistan deserved her brilliance and leadership in its most trying moments. The two PPP prime ministers who followed BB only added to that unfortunate legacy of misappropriation. The blot that marred the PPP’s face only became thicker.
2008-13 was the Zardari moment for the party. From oblivion he resurrected himself to head the party of ZAB and BB. And it wasn’t a pretty time. He may have been street-smart and one who could smell the moment from afar, but he was never the intelligent, sophisticated, intellectually groomed and ideologically seeped replacement for the PPP’s iconic leaders. He was himself, and that says a lot. He was never the ideologue who relished contact with the masses, even as a pretension. His oratorical skills were less than passé – quite opposite to the exceptionalism of both ZAB and BB. The party lost its mantle on the political base and was trumped comprehensively. More so in Punjab, which carries 148 NA constituencies and lost its nationwide credentials.
This was the moment for the party to shed itself of its nefarious baggage and rekindle lost spirit. This was the moment to repackage the party differently and to revert to its philosophical core. It was the time to let the party blossom as the only party on the political landscape with liberal and progressive foundations. None of that happened. The PPP not only drifted away from its core, it also failed to perform when in power. A combination of corrupt legacy, failed governance, adrift from its founding ethos instead spelled certain doom.
To the leadership in power, surviving the five years without further personal hurt was an achievement. When at the death of BB, the ‘Pakistan khappay’ slogan was sounded it betrayed a sorry regionalism and appeared menacingly patronising to Pakistan. That was the moment when the PPP began regressing from being ‘chaaron soobon ki zanjeer’ to a regional entity. The rot hasn’t stemmed since. Whether it can hold on to Sindh is moot. That sadly is also the story of the last seven years of the PPP’s rule in Sindh. Yet, nothing changed within the party.
Asif Zardari has never seemed overtly upset about being trashed in the elections, repeatedly, since 2013. Instead he chose an entirely wrong moment to vent his fear-based anger when he began feeling the heat of the Karachi Operation. Badly advised, the move misfired making it embarrassingly impossible for his close circle to defend his position. The manifestations of this bad move and continuing bad press around the misdemeanours of the last stint in power, and the one in Sindh of the last seven years, reverberate in the form of significant rebellion in the ranks.
When broached on Punjab, he was instead quite content with his position in Sindh, almost betraying the perception that Punjab did not matter. His subsequent forays into Punjab were half-hearted and lacked conviction. The possibility to clean the stables went abegging leaving the tainted old guard in their positions. Reports of a father-son spat did not help.
The PPP has also lived with another misplaced perception. The party’s experience of 1988 entrenched for it the benefits of the ‘victim syndrome’ that it preyed on subsequently in 1993. In 2008, the establishment’s anti-Nawaz sentiment and BB’s unfortunate murder worked in the party’s favour. But the loss of a formidable leader was simply too much for the party to fill in with the available options. What could have though been developed in a steadied application as a cadre of next generation leadership in the five years available to it was sacrificed at the altar of leader worship.
Instead of refining policies in support of a political vision of the party the entire party sat in idleness awaiting the royal acknowledgement. That is how it stands for most political parties but they hadn’t had their hierarchies disrupted. The PPP had and it could have regained its centrality by only being different from the rest. Clearly, it did not, and consequently suffered. Conventional politics is the anti-thesis of the PPP’s conceptual framework; losing this anchor has been its greatest loss. There is absolutely no effort at remedying this anomaly.
Any attempt at playing the ‘victim’ to cover for one’s inefficiencies and inadequacies is unlikely to cut the PPP any rope. Instead the electorate has changed significantly to begin to decipher the lesser evil. This essence is much needed to be understood by the PPP as a party. The PPP must also recognise the immense burden of balancing the usual right-wing inclination in society with its policies of the Left; with an appeal which must remain nationwide.
To that end not only must its leadership be above board, it must enthuse such character to enable the progressive sentiment in the society to find it easier to relate to it. At the moment this isn’t happening. New leadership away from the familial resort and a return to its foundational ethos and political philosophy – suitably tempered to meet contemporary needs – is what will make it a relevant player once again. Organisational redrawing of its structures is an imperative. Otherwise the appeal is only regional, further circumscribed by an increasingly bad record. Only wholesale reform can save the party. Till then this ship is sinking, if not wrecked.
The writer is a retired air-vice marshal, former ambassador and a security and political analyst.
Email: shhzdchdhry@yahoo.com