‘Power struggle’ brings PPP to a halt

Is there a “power struggle” going on within the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which has practically brought itself to a standstill?
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had left for London via Dubai at a time when he was expected to be in the Punjab.
He is still finding it difficult to assert himself and his vision and policies, as the powerful co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is not ready to give his son absolute power.
Due to this “stand-off” the last Dubai meeting on the Sindh government failed in which the party was supposed to take major decisions while the chances of the party leader’s meeting for a complete “postmortem” of 2013 elections and the PPP, which was due in mid-August, are very unlikely unless it is decided that who will actually lead the party. In the present scenario the PPP hardly stands any chance in the local bodies elections in the Punjab and can also face a few problems in Sindh.
Power struggle within Bhuttos has a history in post-Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, but now a shift from Bhuttos to Zardari has made the situation more complicated and questions have been raised about the future of the PPP as a national party.
The major point of contention between the father and his son is the use of “veto power” by the former that often caused embarrassment to the latter.
The failure of Dubai meeting was disappointing for the chairman, who came back to Karachi, and after planning his Punjab visit has to again go to Dubai and London for consultations.
Bilawal is not happy as he has not been allowed to make organisational changes without approval of the co-chairman. Where this struggle will ultimately lead to could be anybody’s guess but the delay is causing the party heavily in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
The office of the co-chairman, which was supposed to be a temporary one, was created after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, but it has become more powerful than the chairman. This office was first created when late Begum Nusrat Bhutto was first nominated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the acting chairperson. After his execution, she became the chairperson. Later, BB become the co-chairperson and Begum Bhutto became a ceremonious “life chairperson.”
There was a power struggle between Begum Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto and also on policies. Begum Bhutto was more aggressive and also had a soft corner for “Al-Zulfiqar Organisation” considered as a militant wing of the party. BB abolished it in 1987, which made her brother Murtaza Bhutto angry. All party hardliners were either sideline or they were expelled from the party
When the PPP won 1988 elections, Murtaza advised her not to compromise with the establishment and sit in the opposition. Her view was different, as she felt that the PPP workers had suffered a lot in 11 years under General Zia’s rule. Within 18 months BB’s government was sacked on August 6, 1990. In a press conference in Karachi, she blamed the Military Intelligence (MI) for hatching a conspiracy. But, it was also the beginning of a crisis within the family as her brother Mir Murtaza, developing differences with her spouse Asif Ali Zardari, decided to form his own faction of PPP.
Benazir’s allegation against conspiracy was vindicated when after 1990 elections, in which Nawaz Sharif became the prime minister, famous “Mehran Bank” scam came on the surface.
It was only after Asghar Khan’s petition that the Supreme Court declared 1990 elections as “rigged”. Former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani confirmed that money was distributed among the opposition leaders on the directive of the then army chief General Aslam Baig.
However, dispute within the family further sharpened when Murtaza started suspecting the role of Mr. Zardari and in 1993 decided to return despite BB’s request that his life could be in danger. The situation was quite alarming for Begum Bhutto, who tried to pursue both her son and daughter to settle the issue but perhaps her son-in-law was the stumbling bloc as Murtaza wanted that Mr. Zardari should stay out of PPP politics.
BB was even ready to give Mir and his friends few seats in the party. In the last meeting held at the Sindh Club before he returned, it was clear that certain “friends” of Mir gave a wrong advice to him when the sister and brother had almost reached a compromise.
These “friends” of Mir disappeared after he formed PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) and got elected as MPA.
Division within Bhuttos not only weakened the powerful political family, but also the party. Murtaza, which was once seen as successor to BB was assassinated on September 20, 1996 in one of the biggest murder mysteries. The then IGP Sindh, Dr Shoaib Suddle, who was one of the suspects in recent interviews had only spoken “half truth.”
Benazir got two major shocks in this incident: (1) Her brother was assassinated while she was the prime minister; (2), her mother, who had not fully recovered after the mysterious death of her other son Shahnawaz, never came in public after Murtaza’s death. A few years later she also died after prolonged illness.
Benazir never came to power again and spent most of her time in exile. She was not allowed to contest 2002 elections nor was Nawaz Sharif. The then President General Pervez Musharraf also created a “split” in the PPP and PML-N, but, this move brought the two leaders closer and in 2006 they finally signed the famous “Charter of Democracy.”
She took the risk against all advices within and outside the party. Her assassin and conspirators knew her nature. From Oct 18, 2007 to December 27, when she was assassinated, at least three attempts were made on her life.
The PPP could not recover from her death till this day, but Zardari surprised many senior party leaders when he declared in Garhi Khuda Bux that Bilawal Bhutto would be the PPP chairman until he got matured.
Since the only surviving member of Bhutto family was Sanam Bhutto, she declined to play any role in politics. The PPP still had a choice among the senior most members like Makhdoom Amin Fahim, but Mr. Zardari came out with the “last will” of BB and everyone endorsed him as the PPP co-chairman.
The PPP won yet another election in 2008 and Mr. Zardari consolidated his grip both in the party and in the government. But, his five years rule turned out to be fatal for the PPP’s popular base.
In the present case, Mr. Zardari himself decided that the office of co-chairman was temporary and as soon as Bilawal got matured he would abolish the office of co-chairman.
Mr. Zardari apparently is not ready to surrender his power while Bilawal is still reluctant to lead the party without any power and finds it difficult to implement his vision. Any chances of revival of the PPP depend on how soon this dispute is settled.
In the last two or three years, there have been several “launches” of Bilawal, but each time when he tried to speak on his own and take decisions, they were “vetoed.”
The last meeting in Dubai, called to discuss the Sindh government’s performance, ended on a disappointing note, resulting in a few so-called changes. Sources said Bilawal wanted improve in the provincial government’s working.
There are reports of “family get together” in London to settle the pending issues.
At present, the PPP leaders and workers still await their leaders to come to the Punjab before it is too later or they are already late.
The writer is the senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang.