ON this day in 2007, Benazir Bhutto was killed at a time when her party needed her most. For the PPP, as it gears up for general elections next February, the trajectory it has taken since Ms Bhutto’s untimely death should be of particular concern. Arguably, even in 2008, its popularity was not at its zenith — the kind witnessed under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and during the Zia era when the party, then led by Ms Bhutto, was directly targeted. There were reasons for this, not least among them the corruption alleged during the 1990s when the party was in and out of power and the rise of political rivals. However, it remained a national party. Today, while its ethos still draws supporters from across the country, this has not translated into the numbers needed for a government at the centre. The memory of Ms Bhutto’s populist appeal has not been enough to cancel out the unpopularity of the present leadership: without her charisma and knack for populist politics, the party’s top tier under Asif Ali Zardari has grown disconnected from both party workers and ordinary people. The PPP was nearly wiped out in Punjab after the 2013 elections, and has since found itself limited to its stronghold of Sindh.

Yet, the PPP did pull off some major achievements after Ms Bhutto. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the renaming of NWFP, the creation of a legislative assembly in Gilgit-Baltistan, and the introduction of the Balochistan Package were all laudatory moves — though implementation was scant. In provincial politics too, the PPP government in Sindh garnered plaudits for progressive pro-women, children and minority policies and legislation, the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act and the Sindh Protection of Communal Properties of Minorities Act amongst others — but again, poorly enforced. Moreover, as the ruling party in Sindh, the PPP has been shying away from empowering local bodies, resulting in strengthening the provincial government’s hold on civic bodies. It is no surprise then that Sindh has become unlivable. There is rampant street crime, a corrupt police force, unemployment, illegal contracts, unscrupulous land dealings, poor sanitation and healthcare, broken roads, abysmal schooling, shoddy building control, encroachments and the like. Today, the party faces a moment of truth: it must either rectify its mistakes or resign itself to a diminishing role in national politics.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2023