Pakistan Peoples Party pins hopes on Bilawal
With Bilawal Bhutto Zardari returning home just in time to participate in and, if reports are to believed, even lead, the electoral campaign of his party in Pakistan, speculations of a rift between him and his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, have been put to rest for the time being. Mr Bilawal Bhutto technically co-chairs the Pakistan Peoples Party with his father, but as patron-in-chief he is the PPP’s supreme leader. Naturally, when he suddenly left for Dubai a fortnight ago, many assumed that it was a direct consequence of his differences with Mr Zardari regarding the management of the party. These assumptions only gained strength after Mr Zardari too travelled to Dubai, supposedly to persuade his son to return. While there is of course no way to confirm reports of the father-son dispute, there is no doubt about the fact that the PPP's rank and file breathed a huge sigh of relief following Mr Bhutto's homecoming on Monday. Had he chosen to stay away, the party would have been left with Mr Zardari at the helm, and this would not have worked well for the PPP. Mr Zardari does not enjoy whole-hearted support within the party, nor does he have a mass base. That he has survived an entire term is something of an achievement. But, people are looking for freshness in the PPP. Mr Zardari's role ever since he took over as party chief from his wife Benazir Bhutto, following her assassination in 2007, has been to keep the top seat warm for their son — the real Bhutto heir. Furthermore, in the run-up to the May 11 general election, the transition process has already been initiated, with Mr Bhutto playing a visibly greater role in the party’s affairs. However, as expected, there have also been reports of the old guard trying to control his decisions given that he is still a political novice, unfamiliar with the complexities of his country’s politics. But as early as January 2011, Mr Bhutto had made it clear that he had a mind of his own and was not one to be hemmed in by his so-called political advisers. At that time, the young Bhutto was the lone PPP leader to come out strongly in support of the minorities in Pakistan after the powerful Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, had been assassinated for advocating the repeal of his country's draconian blasphemy laws.
In the two years since then, Mr Bhutto has grown in stature as the PPP's natural leader, and many Pakistani observers believe that he has returned from Dubai stronger and more confident in his abilities to lead the party that was once spearheaded by his mother and, before her, his grandfather. Indeed, the manner in which Mr Bhutto has immersed himself in the PPP's election campaign, immediately upon his return, is testimony to the fact that he is coming into his own. Of course, he may have stayed away from contesting the election this time around, but there is no doubt that, eventually, the now 24-year-old, Oxford-educated son of Benazir Bhutto, will lead the PPP.