AT least for some time to come, the media will, out of habit if nothing else, continue to look for the PPP angle in every political activity in the country.

Such has been the presence of the party that many are still hesitant to write it off even in parts of Pakistan where it has done little of notice over the last few years.

The angle is very much there in the reporting of the recent cantonment board elections across the country — and the verdict is out: the PPP has failed to show any signs of revival. Indeed, these local-level polls underline, yet again, its transformation from the role of a main contender to one that is mentioned as that of an also-ran. So much so that a PPP politician in Lahore reportedly said the party didn’t have candidates to field on every seat to the two local cantonment boards and some had to be paid to avoid a more conspicuous party no-show.

Also read: Lyari was and remains a PPP stronghold, says Zardari

Needless to say, those who financed these ‘candidates’ would have been much better off using the money for grass-roots reorganisation as part of an effort to reclaim traditional PPP territory that has been usurped by the PTI to oppose the PML-N.

The PTI’s claim that it has emerged as a party challenging the PML-N in large areas of the country, especially in Punjab, is supported by figures as seen in the cantonment poll results. This has been at the cost of a fading PPP that can no longer boast a nationwide presence and appears too constrained to do anything about raising the profile of its government in Sindh.

PPP insiders asked to comment on the dismal trends of the party in the cantonment polls are slaves to their own habits. They will, for any length of time, continue to argue about their leaderless existence.

The more optimistic among them — a breed which is becoming rarer with time — promise a turnaround with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the helm.

Asif Ali Zardari, the self-appointed caretaker of the PPP, until the time the young heirs are there to take the reins, talked of the need for a leadership as he addressed a revive-PPP public meeting in Lyari.

However, those who still think that the PPP may have a role in the country’s right-inclined politics may find reason to criticise Mr Zardari’s single-line formula for a change in his party’s fortunes.

He wants youth in the party and experience in the government — the latter in the person of Mr Zardari himself and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. It could actually be the other way round.

There has to be an element of freshness, of youth and well-meaning adventurism displayed in the running of the government in Sindh to rejuvenate the party cadres. Sindh is all the PPP has to create a party on.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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