The divide in the Zardari Camp has once again made its way to the public eye. Speculations about a visible split between former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the issue of the best way forward have been swirling in the media for several news cycles. A riveting, hierarchy-establishing interview saw the father commenting on the political journey of the PPP chairman, “Bilawal is more talented, educated and better spoken,” the emphasis being on “experience is experience.”
These bombshell accusations followed on the heels of Bilawal’s headline-making election campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where he asked the veteran politicians to rest in their farmhouses or madressahs and leave politics to the younger lot.
Call it a rift in the family, the creation of two distinct groups in the party or, for the lack of a better word, airing of the family’s laundry in the public, but the party leaders remain steadfast in dismissing the development as a non-affair. They point out earlier instances of Bilawal challenging the rules of business, may it be through his parting remarks on the floor of the National Assembly or repeatedly using social media to question the rampant prevalence of practices of the yore, and proclaim that these differences add beauty and richness to their party’s narrative.
Between changing pictures on social media, impromptu family dinners and the much-talked-about reaction of the comparatively young blood, there’s a lot to discuss. Whether media outlets and party supporters are reading too much into seemingly harmful gestures or hitting the bull’s eye in contemplations of the upcoming shift in winds remains to be seen. But for now, a leading, mainstream player in Pakistani politics is expected to sort out its affairs before the whiff of family feuds begins to dent political strategy. *