Daily Times

Even when the supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wish to see a strong leader in Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — the one who draws the disappointed voter of central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa back to the party — the old jiyalas (zealots) understand that the grandson of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto lacks the political maturity of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, and political acumen of his grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

The old supporters wish to see the young politician connect with the people, and be prepared to fulfil the primary responsibility of any elected official: service to the people. They do understand that Bilawal may not be ready right now because of his age and inexperience in politics. The PPP has launched him twice in active politics so far, and each time despite his presence the parry has ended up not doing very well. Disagree? Look at the election results of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in which PPP has essentially been voted out of the assembly.

There is also the criticism that maybe Bilawal is not cut out for politics. Both Benazir and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto could gauge people’s sentiments well, which made them highly popular with the masses. It is yet to be seen whether Bilawal’s apparent popularity is because of his own personality or if it is simply the residual love people have for the Bhutto name.

Aside from the leadership crisis, the other major problem that PPP has faced over the years — the problem that has become more pronounced after the last elections — is its diminishing presence in Punjab even after factoring out the latest Kashmir polls. One by one, local influential families like the Chaudharys of Jhelum, the Qureshis of Multan, and the Rajputs of Faisalabad have jumped ship to join the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), or Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). With each one of them leaving, the party loses thousands of votes in that area and, in turn, more political space. Now the space has shrunk to almost negligible. Why are these people leaving? In the absence of a strong leader, they also know that the future of PPP faces huge challenges, and soon the party could be reduced to a regional power limited to rural Sindh and nowhere else.

The question is how this process of erosion can be stopped, or even more importantly, if it can be stopped at all. What would the new party chairman need to do to pull the party out of the crisis? Although I believe it has crossed that threshold, and the re-emergence of the PPP in Punjab is as difficult as to glue back a damaged tennis ball. But if it has to be done, the formula for success would be the same as has been suggested to the PTI: perform exceptionally well in your respective province, and ask people to trust you in the next elections.

Far from doing that, all that the PPP has done so far is to equate the tragedy of the Bhutto family with the suffering of Sindhis in general. Most Pakistanis, even non-Sindhis, agree that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was unjustly executed, and Benazir Bhutto died fighting for the rights of people. But, for how long would this strategy work, especially if there is no service to the people? People would vote once, twice or even thrice. Eventually they would ask to perform.

Performance, in contrast, is the formula that the PML-N adopts under the Sharif brothers. Their failure to bring institutional reforms and fundamental change in the system of government notwithstanding, they do focus on mega projects, no matter how controversial, to improve the quality of life of the people in their constituency. Some of the examples: countrywide motorway projects; Metrobus service in Lahore, Islamabad and now in Multan; and the Orange Line Metro Train in the provincial capital. The viability of all these projects can be criticised, but the Sharif brothers know that such projects translate into votes.

Now I would like to ask, what has the PPP done for Karachi, the largest city of Sindh, or even for PPP’s major constituency, Larkana? To be honest, when compared to Lahore or Islamabad, over the last few years, the PPP and other stakeholders have converted Karachi into a dumpster — garbage piled up in every corner, streets strewn with shopping bags, stray dogs scavenging food everywhere, a nauseating stench of rotten vegetables hanging in the air. And Larkana still lives in the mid-18th century, a couple of hundred years behind the rest of the world.

With that kind of performance, it is not unlikely that the splinter groups within the PPP through local alliances with the opposition parties in Sindh may cause serious damage in the next elections, where the PPP would still come out as the largest party but not strong enough to have the majority. Maybe the party leadership has sensed that, and it has decided to replace long-serving chief minister, Qaim ali Shah — the man with zero administrative capabilities — with Murad Ali Shah, the son of a former chief minister of Sindh, Abdullah Shah. If the party’s priority is to stop the bleeding and, at least, win Sindh in the next elections, he would have to work almost as hard and as efficiently as Shahbaz Sharif, if not more – be present in the office working overtime after working hours, and keeping the bureaucracy on its toes. If not, we may not see the PPP ruling Sindh in 2018.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com