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Perspectives |
| The Coronation of Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari |
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On 30 December 2007, in a hastily arranged
press conference, a gathering of the late Benazir Bhutto’s
confidantes announced the heir to her throne. A group of journalists
present at the occasion, and millions watching on their televisions,
were told that Benazir Bhutto, in a confidential document,
had nominated her husband Asif Zardari to be Party Chairman
in case she was assassinated. However, Asif Zardari had declined
and nominated his son, Bilawal Zardari instead as the successor
to Benazir. In an emotional display, he also announced that
all of Benazir’s children were now to assume the name
Bhutto. The new leader of Pakistan’s largest political
party would be nineteen year old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Most observers roundly castigated this decision. Tariq Ali
suggested that more than four hundred years ago, Mary, Queen
of Scots had been more tentative and more democratic in naming
her heir than the Bhuttos. Was the party a family heirloom
that was to be passed on to the next of kin? And that too,
to someone widely considered as one of the most corrupt politicians
in Pakistan? Nothing could expose more clearly the complete
absence of democratic credentials of Benazir’s party.
The whole thing was grotesque, protested Ali. |
| The Los Angeles Time concurred. Dynastic politics
were undemocratic and to be banished forever from politics.
Succession within the PPP has hardly followed this creed over
the years. The daughter of a prime minister, Benazir Bhutto
had taken over the leadership of the party from her mother,
who herself inherited party leadership from Benazir's father.
Bilawal Zardari is thus the third Bhutto to inherit the party
leadership – his grandfather, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto having
founded it.
There is no question that Bilawal Zardari’s annointment
has nothing to do with merit. Even if the Central Executive
Committee endorsed it, it is still not justifiable. But then
the PPP was never really democratic. In his first press conference,
Bilawal told us that his mother used to say, “democracy
is the best revenge”. Given that democracy (read elections)
to her was always a means to power, and never an end in itself,
the revenge was obviously getting (back) into power. This
revenge was first exacted upon the incumbents, and later on
the people. |
The Pakistan People’s Party is only continuing
this fine tradition. While the party’s founder was no
great democrat himself, he did create a national party across
all four provinces (no mean feat, as party-less wonders like
Imran Khan will attest). Moreover, his ideology was pro-people,
even if his actions were not always so.
The politically motivated execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
created a legacy that remains alive even today. His socialist
policies, pan-Islamic vision, and above all, an anti-imperialist
stance still reverberate across the electorate. Since his
days, the party has merely exploited what he left behind,
never built upon it. In fact, gradually the political capital
that ZAB left is being eroded. Whereas the original people’s
party swept across the entire West Pakistan, under Benazir
it has been losing its appeal outside Singh, especially in
the crucial battleground of Punjab. Rather than re-organizing
the party and returning to ZAB’s policies, the party
has gradually moved away from them. In response to a question
at the press conference, Asif Zardari confirmed that under
Bilawal (and himself) the party would be continuing the appeasement
policies of Benazir Bhutto and not the confrontationist ones
of her father.
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Benazir Bhutto with Bilawal, Bakhtawar, and Aseefa
(Picture courtesy Pakistan People's Party photo gallery)
Devoid of an ideology, the party needs symbols. Bilawal’s
anointment gives PPP hope in the coming elections. The next
election will be fought on the sympathy vote. And who deserves
our sympathy more than Bilawal? All parties appoint leaders
to win elections, and the PPP is no exception. It is naïve
to question this decision, which is expedient as far as the
PPP is concerned.
The real tragedy is not Bilawal’s coronation. It is
PPP’s demise as the only progressive, national party.
It is the capture of the party leadership by a handful of
feudals, who made their political fortune first on the coattails
of Zulfiqar and then Benazir Bhutto, and who have no intention
of using this opportunity to plant the seed of democracy within
the party. Instead, they will continue to ruthlessly exploit
the Bhutto legacy to get back into power. The rhetoric of
democracy will be heard in the background as new deals are
cut, and the vice-like grip of the feudal elite is strengthened
on the party. Despite his impressive title of Chairman, Bilawal
Bhutto is merely a pawn in this game. |
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