PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Peoples Party is likely to restore its organisations, which were dissolved due to poor performance in the first phase of local body election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The party’s provincial cabinet had decided to dissolve organisations in a meeting on Dec 22, 2021, and announced that the committees of senior people would re-organise units in their respective areas.

The districts, where the office-bearers were removed, included Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Torghar and Buner. However, the party failed to re-organise organisations there even one month later.

Peshawar divisional president Liaquat Shabab was reinstated by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari following their meeting in Islamabad.

Insiders told Dawn that the dissolution decision was made in haste as it instead of delivering any good caused distrust and rifts in the party.

Leader says panels formed to resolve internal differences

They claimed that the party’s office-bearers in Peshawar city district actively participated in political activities and held rallies against surging prices of essential commodities and growing unemployment rate as directed by the leadership but even then, they were removed.

The sources claimed that the party had several groups in Nowshera district and the repeated visits of provincial president Najamuddin Khan and reconciliation committee comprising senior leaders failed to end that grouping.

They said internal differences were a major cause of the PPP’s defeat in the Dec 19 local body election.

The sources said the previous provincial presidents of the party paid no attention to the re-organisation causing grouping, which led to poor performance in the recent electoral exercise.

They said the party’s nominees for the LG polls were opposed by activists, who challenged them as independent candidates.

The sources said the nomination of candidates against the will of local workers was also to blame for poll defeat.

They said the party’s provincial leadership believed that only the affluent candidates could win elections but the ideological workers showed resentment by secret ballot against the nomination of electables.

PPP president for Charsadda unit Amir Nawaz Khan also resigned from his post over differences with the party’s provincial leadership and office-bearers in own district over election nominations.

The insiders claimed the party workers in Malakand and other districts had begun defying the decisions of the provincial leadership about nominations for the second phase of local body election.

About the restoration of dissolved organisations, PPP provincial senior vice-president Syed Ayub Shah said the provincial cabinet, in a meeting on Jan 22, had appreciated the role of Peshawar city district unit but its restoration was the prerogative of central chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

He said the committees of senior people had been formed to resolve the differences and announce new office-bearers in consultation with all groups.

“The party’s organisation in Charsadda district has been named, while those in other areas will be finalised within a month,” he said.

Mr Shah said in addition to the homework for second phase of the local body elections, the party had focused its entire attention on the preparation for the Feb 27 long march from Karachi to Islamabad against inflation.

He said the worker conventions would be held in Peshawar, Mingora, Hazara and Chitral areas with Bilawal showing up as the chief guest.

PPP Peshawar district general secretary Abrar Khan told Dawn that the provincial leadership was doing its job well and any decision about the restoration of dissolved units or the nomination of new office-bearers would be made in consultation with workers.

He also said the party should appoint office-bearers and nominate candidates in consultation with workers instead of imposing electables.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2022