Are Zardari, Bilawal at odds with each other?

LAHORE: Shortly after Shehbaz Sharif expressed his wish to see Nawaz Sharif as PM, Nawaz Sharif named Shehbaz Sharif for the top government office on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening also saw PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari sitting with PML-N, PML-Q chiefs and other leaders, stating that all parties should work together for the country, including the PTI. Conspicuous in his absence was PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, this being more pronounced since he had announced earlier in the day on Tuesday that the PPP would only help the PML-N get its premier elected and provide necessary support to legislative business on an issue-to-issue basis. Bilawal had also rejected the idea of going for a “PDM-2” government. Are the father and son at odds with each other over the coalition issue or are they playing good cop-bad cop?

When asked, a senior PPP leader did not agree with the two propositions, saying there’s nothing intriguing in all this and the matter is a bit technical. Requesting anonymity, the PPP leader said that Asif Zardari is the president of PPP-Parliamentarians and his presence in the press conference to announce the coalition was quite appropriate.

When reminded that in the past, Bilawal had talked about discarding the politics of babas (elders), something that clearly indicated a difference in both leaders’ political views, the PPP leader said that Zardari, in an interview with Geo anchorperson Hamid Mir, had asserted his authority as PPPP president.

He said that if at all there was a difference of opinion between the two leaders, it was ideological or strategic, and not tactical. According to this PPP leader, this is in fact healthy, as its synthesis will help the party grow. If the nation has thrown up a split mandate, a coalition with other parties is the need of the hour, the leader added.

When asked why Shehbaz Sharif’s name was not announced in the press conference and was revealed through a message on X (formerly Twitter), while Maryam Nawaz was named as a candidate for the Punjab chief minister’s office, a PML-N leader claimed, also on condition of anonymity, that the coalition had left it to the PML-N to name its candidate for the PM. He disagreed with the notion that Shehbaz knew he was going to be named as he expressed his desire for Nawaz Sharif to be the premier.

Meanwhile, on Geo’s special transmission on Tuesday night hosted by Shahzad Iqbal, journalist Hamid Mir said that the PML-N had already decided that Shehbaz Sharif would be the prime minister and the PPP had also decided to support a Shehbaz-led PML-N government. According to Mir, Bilawal Bhutto’s press conference on Tuesday was a reflection of the decisions taken in the CEC meeting.

In the same programme, the PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah told Shahzad Iqbal that Shebaz Sharif had the experience and the skill to negotiate a coalition government. Rana Sana also said that the PP and other parties should join the government. Calling Zardari a wise politician, the PML-N leader said that the PPP would be part of the government with or without ministries but also clarified that neither had the PPP asked for the presidency slot nor had the PML-N made any such commitment.

Clarifying that there is no difference between the stance of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP’s Faisal Karim Kundi told Shahzad Iqbal in the same programme that the PPP will back the PML-N for the prime minister’s slot, will help with legislation, will vote down legislation it thinks is unfit and will form governments in Sindh and Balochistan. He said that with or without the PML-N’s support the PPP will be contesting for the positions of the president, the chairman of Senate, and the speaker of the National Assembly.