Asif Ali Zardari has not yet been notified as the president of the Pakistan People’s Party parliamentarians amid possible legal challenges, close aides said.
Asif Ali Zardari has not yet been notified as the president of the Pakistan People’s Party parliamentarians amid possible legal challenges, close aides said.
Last Sunday, the party’s central executive committee had elected Mr Zardari as the new head of the PPPP to replace the late Makhdoom Amin Fahim. The development came at the eighth death anniversary of former Premier Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007.
The parent party — the PPP — has no representation in the Parliament as the party contested the last three elections under the banner of the PPPP. Under Mr Fahim, the PPPP contested the 2002, 2008 and 2013 polls, winning one of them in 2008. Bilawal Bhutto and his father were elected inactive PPP’s co-chairmen after the assassination of Benazir.
Close aides of the Bhutto family said the PPPP was on course to contest the fourth successive general elections for the PPP in 2018 as chances of merger of the electoral extension with the parent party looked bleak. The PPPP was formed in 2002 from within the PPP to counter a law that prohibited the parties led by convicted leaders from contesting the polls.
Because of military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s 2002 decree, Benazir Bhutto was also not permitted to stand for elections. The law — now scrapped — also banned individuals from becoming the Prime Minister for a third term. In response to these obstacles, the PPP split, registering a new distinct branch called the PPPP. Legally separate and free from the restrictions brought upon the PPP by Benazir’s leadership, the PPPP participated in the 2002 elections, in which it earned a strong vote.
The PPPP contested again in 2008 to win the general polls for the PPP and in 2013 to end up as the second largest bloc in the National Assembly. It won elections in Sindh to form the provincial government. A close aide of Mr Zardari said the party does not see any legal hurdle to the former President’s dual role as co-chair of the PPP and head of the PPPP.
“I personally don’t see any complication but even if there is something, Zardari has still not been notified as the PPPP president. He remains the PPP co-chairman,” Senator Rehman Malik said. He said late Makhdoom Amin Fahim was also the PPPP president and the vice-chairman of the PPP. “If there was no problem then, what is the issue now I think some anti-PPP elements are bent upon targeting Zardari and his family,” he added.
He said there was no difference between the PPP and the PPPP. “The PPPP is sort of subsidiary of the PPP. It works under the PPP,” he maintained. But legal experts do not buy the idea because the PPP and the PPPP are registered as two separate parties with the Election Commission of Pakistan — having different symbols and office-bearers.
“Makhdoom Amin Fahim’s case is different. The PPP had not contested the elections. It was in fact not registered with the ECP, so there were no issues. Now the PPP and PPPP are registered as two separate parties and one person cannot be a member or leader of two registered parties at the same time,” a law expert said.
He said Mr Zardari has to step down as PPP co-chairman if he wished to take charge of the PPPP. ECP deems no individual can hold the positions of in two parties simultaneously. As per Political Parties Order 2002, dual appointments in multiple parties were violation of regulations.
Mr Zardari is presently staying abroad amid fears of arrest if he returns home. The PPP co-chairman had made a controversial speech in June, warning Generals to stop victimising the PPP or he would expose their “misdeeds”. His statement came after allegations of corruption, land-grabbing, smuggling of Iranian oil and extortion were levelled by the Rangers against the PPP-led Sindh government.
Later that month, he went to Dubai and has not returned so far while his son Bilawal Bhutto leads the PPP. In his absence, the PPP celebrated its foundation day on November 30. He also missed the December 27 death anniversary of his spouse Benazir Bhutto. PPP leaders meanwhile said Bilawal Bhutto will tour Punjab in the coming days.
According to the tentative schedule Bilawal Bhutto will reach Lahore on January 9 and hold a party meeting. He is expected to attend a mass wedding ceremony on January 10 and address a meeting of the Lahore high court bar association on January 11. The Punjab visit of the young PPP chief has long been overdue as he plans to reorganise the party in the largest province after the drubbing in 2013 polls and the recent local government elections.
