Bilawal fears for his political future as PML-N cosies up to military

By Hamza Ameer
Islamabad, Sep 30 (IANS) The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with its political leadership in the Bhutto and Zardari family, is the country's second largest political force which has been at the forefront of political rivalries, anti-military establishment rows and political maneuverings as its built on the reputation of being a “king maker”.

But even with its deep roots into power politics in Sindh province, along with a strong influence in Balochistan and the federal governments, the PPP has been forced to revisit its strategy and opt for political alliances to come into power. 

The party is desperate to win the next general elections and form the government in the federal capital. But it seems that there are no clear winners among the top political players at the moment.  

PPP co-chairperson and former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has expressed serious reservations over the backdoor engagements between the country’s military establishment and the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) as he foresees neglect and sidelining in the formation of the next government.  

“PPP has seen a major shift in the attitude of military establishment after the dissolution of assemblies on August 9. In the active talks between the PML-N and military establishment over the return of Nawaz Sharif from London, PPP has been kept away from this, which is unusual because Bilawal Bhutto and his party leadership managed important Ministries in the former Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government,” said political analyst Adnan Shauqat. 

Bilawal Bhutto and his father Asif Ali Zardari are now geared up to gather more political support in the party's strongholds of Sindh, Balochistan and the southern Part of the Punjab province in an effort to align a strong list of electable candidates for the upcoming polls. 

“The idea behind PPP’s political strategy is to use its political muscle and candidacy list of politicians to have an upper hand in its future alliance with PML-N,” Shauqat opined. 

The PPP’s optimism about forming the government and becoming the single largest party vanished but its efforts to hunt for an elusive electable is working at fast pace with Bilawal Bhutto taking the lead. 

Some analysts also believe that the current rift between the PPP and PML-N carry with it the tendency to melt away in time as soon as political narrative building of both to their voters is disseminated through election campaigning.  

“It is a fight for the revival for PML-N in Punjab, while PPP has established its power in Sindh. Now the PPP wants to breach into Punjab and add more candidates into the party. It also wants to regain its lost voters, who had tilted towards PTI. All these efforts is to come to a stronger negotiation term with PML-N to form the government in Punjab and also in the federal capital,” said Amjad Mahmood, also a political analyst. 

Former President Asif Ali Zardari, who is known as the 'king' of Pakistani politics and the master of negotiations and conciliation, has reportedly left the hunt for suitable candidates in Punjab to his son Bilawal.

However, Asif Ali Zardari’s influence has played a massive role in the political strategies and decision making of PPP and is most likely to show its sway in the coming days.