KARACHI: Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, elder daughter of former president and co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Asif Ali Zardari, on Saturday reacted strongly against the party’s decision to welcome Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) leader Irfanullah Marwat in the PPP, calling the latter a “sick man.”

Mr Marwat — who in the past has held ministerial posts in the Sindh cabinet — had recently announced that he was parting ways with the PML-N and joining the PPP after meeting the senior party leadership. Mr Marwat’s joining the PPP is the latest episode in a recent trend of Sindh-based leaders who have changed their political loyalties and joined the ruling party in the province. Others include former MNA Nabeel Gabol, Sardar Khalid Ahmed Khan Loond and Jam Madad Ali.

However, Mr Marwat’s move attracted strong criticism from the PPP scion apparently due to the serious criminal allegations that have dogged him for the last few decades.

“Sick man should be rotting in a jail cell somewhere not coming anywhere near #PPP. Party that was led by a woman will not tolerate such ppl [people],” Bakhtawar tweeted in a reply to a 1991 news story of the Los Angeles Times shared by one of her followers on Twitter, which narrates former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s campaign against Mr Marwat for serious criminal allegations.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017