Daily Times

The 15th National Assembly of Pakistan was dissolved on 9th August, 2023 at the advice of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. It ended its tumultuous five-year tenure after being elected in 2018.

Amidst all the developments and in-house changes observed in the Parliament, one man stood out from the rest, both in the display of his abilities and stature especially post-2018. Keeping up with the legacy of his grandfather and Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who served as a foreign minister before assuming charge as the chief executive of the country, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari carved his niche set new benchmarks after being elected as the youngest foreign minister of the country in 2022.

The young Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has made an indelible mark by serving as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, albeit serving for a short span of 16 months, and set new standards. When he assumed office, Pakistan was amid an economic crisis with rampant political instability. In addition, Islamabad was diplomatically isolated. The challenges were aplenty but as the saying goes: real leaders are forged in crisis.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became a celebrity of sorts among the diplomatic community.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s presence and speeches at the various international forums exhibited his passion and commitment toward the people of Pakistan, as well as showcased effective communication with clarity of thought in his words and media engagements. It would not be wrong to state that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became a celebrity of sorts among the diplomatic community. Despite his short tenure his gentle mannerism, charisma, maturity and humility have earned him global popularity and positive international media coverage which is rare for any Pakistani government official.

Among others, one of his biggest achievements was Pakistan’s exit from the United Nations’ Financial Action Task Force after four years, and successfully lobbying for the establishment of the “Damage and Loss” Fund at the UN’s Climate Change Conference, COP-27 summit in Egypt. His presence on the world stage to defend Pakistan’s narrative and point of view has laid the foundation for continued progress in the future.

As the country heads towards national elections, the people’s trust towards the Chairman of PPP Bilawal Zardari has grown manifolds.

Despite holding a public office, Chairman PPP constantly kept his attention and focus towards uplifting the socioeconomic status of the people of Sindh where his party was in power. In the last five years, as a result of his commendable initiatives, state-of-the-art healthcare and education facilities were developed and encouraged. His commendable initiative to revolutionise and rehabilitate the lives of the common people, especially the flood-affected women of Sindh, by providing them with land ownership rights is historical and praiseworthy.

“Real leaders are forged in crisis, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari exemplifies this with his passion, commitment, and effective leadership in navigating Pakistan’s challenges.”

Under the direct instructions of the Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto, a Social Protection Department was set up by the Sindh Government. It also set up a Social Protection Authority under which these activities could take place.

Social security programs such as the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) were strengthened in the Sindh Province to provide relief to deserving women and to empower them so they could run small businesses. More than 2.3 million women are currently benefiting from the BISP while more than 1.2 million educational scholarships are being given under the said programme. This facility is being provided to around 107 centres and 136,000 deserving women. Owing to the rising cost of living and inflation, in 2023, the Sindh government also announced an immediate increase of 25 per cent in the amount of the BISP stipend.

The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS), Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma, Center for Autism Rehabilitation and Training, Sindh (C-ARTS), are some of the state-of-the-art hospitals and the crown jewels in the public health department of the Sindh province, established by the PPP government. Almost all these health institutions provide free-of-charge emergency care to patients in need. It showcases PPP’s vision and its leadership’s commitment to improving the health facilities across the province.

In line with PPP’s pro-public and pro-poor policy, last year in November, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asked the Sindh government to construct weather-resilient houses for the flood-affected people so that they could survive even if another natural calamity like floods or heavy rains hit the province. It was decided that the Sindh government would construct houses for 2.1 million flood victims across the province under the Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees programme.

As per his instructions and commitment to the people, on August 10th, 2023, the first phase of this project was ready, and Chairman Bilawal handed over land rights to 5000 flood-hit families. It is important to note that the ownership rights were given to every woman of the displaced families to empower them, which was in accordance with Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari’s vision of empowering women.

This first phase of giving ownership rights of residential units to flood victims of Sindh will revolutionise the lives of the common people of the province. It is also in line with Chairman PPP’s commitment to deliver on PPP’s manifesto of providing ‘Roti, Kapra aur Makaan’ to all, irrespective of the cast, creed or religion to ensure that no one remains left behind.

For the sake of maintaining transparency, the program has implemented co-mapping, allowing individuals to visualize the beneficiaries’ whereabouts using Google Maps. A detailed control panel displays the profiles of the 2.1 million recipients, which encompass their identification cards, bank account information, images of their residences, personal pictures, and contact numbers.

Pakistan currently is facing humongous challenges from all fronts. Today, more than ever we require unity and stability. The people of Pakistan need a national party and a leader who can repair and reverse the polarising environment in the country. Pakistan Peoples Party and its leadership under Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have the capacity, capability and competence to unite the nation. He has clearly shown he has the expertise to lead the nation from the front and represent the people of Pakistan with dignity and grace if given a chance.

As we celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day, we must reflect upon our shortcomings as a nation and identify areas that can rejuvenate the spirit of independence. Leadership has a big role to play in this regard as they can encourage self-sufficiency, and unity, embolden the younger generation, rekindle cultural ethics, nurture creativity, give precedence to excellent education, enhance national cohesion, and reassert the people’s dedication to remain as a unified nation and serve the country to the best of our abilities.

The writer is Patron in Chief of a non-partisan think tank; the Centre for Pakistan and Gulf Studies (CPGS) and a prominent politician, academician and practitioner in the areas of regional, international defence and strategic studies. She tweets @SeharKamran