KARACHI, Feb 28: Fatima Bhutto, daughter of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, does not think the “new parliament can bring any hope of good governance to people” and believes the coalition of Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari is destined to be very short.

“Unfortunately, the new coalition is more of a reflection of coming together of two corrupt politicians and I know that nothing new is going to happen on the political front,” Fatima contends in an interview published in Kuwaiti newspaper Arab Times.

“Sharif and Zardari cannot sustain a lasting coalition. Their shelf life is destined to be very short,” declares Fatima.

On Feb 18 elections, she believes “these elections in no way represent a new beginning for the people for there is a lack of a true democratic culture within Pakistani politics.

“These elections were a real fraud, from the very beginning to the very end. There was widespread and blatant rigging, which was supported by the government, the election commission and the police,” she said

“I can assure you that the electoral rolls had been fixed, ballot-boxes were pre-stuffed and voters used openly fake ID cards or ID cards without photographs, and I have ample evidence.

“I was there at the polling stations in the Larkana district from morning seven to eight in the evening and witnessed rigging with my own eyes,” says Fatima.

She hopes for “a truly democratic Pakistan, where the common man is empowered. Pakistan cannot be empowered until the common man on the street feels empowered.

Fatima, considered a worthy heir to the Pakistan People’s Party after Benazir’s death, says, “I don’t believe in birthright politics. I don’t believe in dynasty, because I think it’s dangerous for the country.

“It is quite evident that there is a great absence of a democratic culture within the PPP. The party was not meant to be the property of one name or family.

“All I can say is that the party workers did not have a chance to select, they have taken and accepted meekly what the top leadership has given them,” she said.

Fatima says she is content being politically active through her writing and involvement in grass-root campaigns. “I firmly believe that every responsible citizen needs to be involved, but I do not think this parliament has any real connection to the people or with their problems and therefore I have no interest in parliamentary politics for now.

“There are countless ways to effect change and not all of them come from being in parliament,” she said in an interview published in Kuwaiti newspaper Arab Times.

“Writing is the greatest joy of my life. I am thinking of starting a new book, but it is a bit too early to speak about it, and so I cannot really divulge much at this stage,” she said.

Having undergone so many ups and downs in life, Fatima understands the complex texture of life and says: “As a writer, my responsibility is to write well and honestly, and be the voice to the voiceless and I write in simple words about people, and places, and circumstances and issues that govern our lives.”

If Fatima Bhutto weren’t a writer or an activist or did not have the Bhutto burden to carry, she is sure she would be doing exactly the same thing she is doing being an activist and a writer.

A graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University in New York, she holds a Master’s degree in South Asian Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

Fatima is the author of two books, a volume of poetry published when she was 15 years old in her father’s memory a year after his death called “Whispers of the Desert” and a collection of first hand survivor’s accounts from the Oct 8, 2005 earthquake in Pakistan entitled “8:50 am.”

—PPI