Daily Times

It could be said that political parties that uphold their ideology, on being elected to power implement their manifesto and deliver, tend to grow bigger. On the other hand, parties that flagrantly disregard their manifesto and aspirations of the people, do not honour their commitments, and if their leaders are accused of being involved in corruption, they shrink and fade. Pakistan has seen waxing and waning of political parties and political leaders. The glaring example is the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), once a national party but which has become a regional party over time. It would be appropriate to give some background how Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto felt the need for launching of the PPP.

Unfortunately, Pakistan for a long time remained without a constitution, as none was made from 1947 to 1956. And when one was framed in 1956 it did not reflect the aspirations of the people. Among other factors, the formation of One Unit had alienated the people of smaller provinces and sown the seeds of disintegration.

Pillars of British-trained civil and military bureaucracy, Malik Ghulam Mohammad, Iskandar Mirza and Mohammad Ali Bogra were the pioneers of palace intrigues to destabilise political governments. They were instrumental in binding Pakistan in the Baghdad Pact (after the revolution in Iraq named as CENTO), SEATO and a bilateral agreement with the United States. It was the then president Mirza who abrogated the constitution and declared martial law. He had promised that martial law would be lifted soon, whereas the martial law administrator, General Muhammad Ayub Khan did not see eye to eye with Mirza on sharing of power. To appease him, Mirza appointed Khan as the prime minister of Pakistan on October 24, 1958, but held meetings with the air force chief and other army officers. Sensing some sort of intrigue, Khan arrested him on October 27, 1958, and later, Mirza was exiled to Britain.

Bhutto was foreign minister in Khan’s cabinet. He was a charismatic leader, and had developed personal relations with some heads of states. After the 1965 war between Pakistan and India Bhutto had developed differences with President Khan, reportedly over the ceasefire and the Tashkent declaration. Bhutto had meetings with a cross-section of people, politicians and leftists who wished to bring about a basic change in the system. During the Ayub era, business and industries flourished, but workers were not given a fair deal; rather, they were ruthlessly exploited. It was the Cold War era; the conflict between the Soviet Union and the West was at its peak. Many countries were struggling to get rid of neo-colonialism with the support of the Soviet Union and China. Inspired by socialist programme of those countries, Bhutto decided to form a political party to change the status quo and to establish an egalitarian society.

The Pakistan People’s Party was launched after a convention held on November 30 and December 1, 1967 at Dr Muhashar Hassan’s house in Gulberg, Lahore, attended by 300 delegates from West Pakistan, majority of whom were from Punjab. J A Rahim, Mir Rasul Bakhsh Talpur, Mairaj Mohammad Khan, Khurshid Hasan Meer, Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao, Chakar Ali Junejo, Mujtaba Khar, Haq Nawaz Gandapur, Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, Imdad Hussain Jamali, Ahmad Dehlvi, Sardar Pir Bakhsh Bhutto, Sheikh Rashid, Mian Mohammad Aslam, and Malik Naved Ahmad were the founding members. 10 foundation documents were presented in the meeting contributed by Rahim, Dr Hassan, Bhutto and other intellectuals. Later, the manifesto of the party was authored by Rahim, a former bureaucrat, diplomat, and an erudite person having command over teachings of Marx and Lenin. The slogan of “Roti, Kapra and Makaan” (Bread, clothing, house) came into existence to give hope to the impoverished.

In its first convention, it was decided that the PPP would be a multi-class party but with left-leanings to create a society based on socio-economic justice where people irrespective of religion, caste and creed would be equal citizens before the law and the state. In the 1970 elections, the PPP emerged victorious in the then West Pakistan and the Awami League in the former East Pakistan. Despite having clear majority, power was not transferred to the Awami League, thus ensuing a civil war, which ended in the dismemberment of the country. The PPP formed government on the basis of having majority in the West Pakistan. The Bhutto government tried to implement the PPP manifesto, and took measures to give a fair deal to working classes and introduced land reforms to emancipate farmers. In 1972, thousands of factory workers earlier sacked illegally were reinstated.

After the 1977 elections, a conglomeration of political parties launched a movement against the PPP government, and General Zia-ul-Haq promulgated martial law. Bhutto, in 1979, was sent to gallows on a murder charge for which a false case was registered during his tenure. Of course, J A Rahim, Mairaj Muhammad Khan and other leftists by then had left the party because Bhutto was more attentive to Maulana Kausar Niazi, Rafi Raza, Yousuf Buch and other rightists who had no role in formation or growth of the party. The late Benazir Bhutto kept the party flag aloft, and twice formed government from 1988 to 1996, both times dismissed on charges of corruption and being a security risk. The PPP was completely routed in Punjab in the 2013 elections.

The fact remains that Punjab has 148 general seats and 35 women seats — 183 out of the total 342 National Assembly seats. It means that Punjab is the deciding factor as far as formation of federal government is concerned, as its number of National Assembly seats is more than the combined seats from the other three provinces. The reasons for the PPP’s dismal failure were many, including perception of leadership’s corruption, and deviation from its manifesto. One reason was that Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari could not launch an effective campaign in Punjab, as there was a security issue in view of the looming threat of terrorism. After the launch of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb, terrorists have been on the run, and the PPP feels that climate is conducive for Bilawal to focus on Punjab now. Bilawal appears to be relying more on members of the party who have a good reputation. If he could sideline some of his relatives and leaders who have a stigma of corruption, and work hard like his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, there is no reason why Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would not be able to rejuvenate the PPP.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at mjamil1938@hotmail.com