The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that the party will hold a rally on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, Bhutto-Zardari said: "PPP rally from Lahore to Faisalabad tomorrow. Your show is over Nawaz."

Bilawal had earlier tweeted that the PPP would begin its grassroots campaign with the rally.

The development comes days after PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari left Pakistan for Dubai where he spent a few days before travelling to the United States.

Zardari, upon his return to Pakistan from an 18-month, self-imposed exile, announced that both he and his son, Bilawal, would be contesting by-polls for seats in the National Assembly to be part of "this Parliament".

An informed source earlier told Dawn that Asif Ali Zardari was president of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari patron-in-chief of the PPP as per the list of political parties enlisted with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He said the PPP-P had been allotted the symbol of ‘arrow’ and the PPP ‘two swords’ by the ECP prior to the 2013 general elections. And now the two leaders are required to contest the polls from the platforms of their respective political parties under separate election symbols.

The PPP had formed a separate entity, PPP-P, in August 2002 to meet the requirements of a decree issued by the then military ruler.

A law was framed to bar Benazir Bhutto from holding a party office and the new political entity was a bid to avert the imminent threat of losing the chance of contesting the elections.

Opinion

Four hundred seats?

Four hundred seats?

The mix of divisive cultural politics and grow­th-oriented economics that feeds Hindu middle-class ambition and provides targeted welfare are key ingredients in the BJP’s political trajectory.

Editorial

Weathering the storm
Updated 29 Apr, 2024

Weathering the storm

Let 2024 be the year when we all proactively ensure that our communities are safeguarded and that the future is secure against the inevitable next storm.
Afghan repatriation
29 Apr, 2024

Afghan repatriation

COMPARED to the roughshod manner in which the caretaker set-up dealt with the issue, the elected government seems a...
Trying harder
29 Apr, 2024

Trying harder

IT is a relief that Pakistan managed to salvage some pride. Pakistan had taken the lead, then fell behind before...
Return to the helm
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Return to the helm

With Nawaz Sharif as PML-N president, will we see more grievances being aired?
Unvaxxed & vulnerable
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Unvaxxed & vulnerable

Even deadly mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue and malaria have vaccines, but they are virtually unheard of in Pakistan.
Gaza’s hell
Updated 28 Apr, 2024

Gaza’s hell

Perhaps Western ‘statesmen’ may moderate their policies if a significant percentage of voters punish them at the ballot box.