Bilawal sets to step into political arena and to lead election campaign

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is set to formally step into political arena on Thursday at a public meeting that will also mark the 5^th death anniversary of her mother Benazir Bhutto at Ghari Khuda Bakhsh in Sindh province.

The PPP expects a big crowd to greet Bilawal,24, who will also lead the party’s campaign during the upcoming parliamentary elections. He is not eligible to stand for the National Assembly seat and will have to wait for some more months after the elections if held on time in May, 2013.  To qualify for the National Assembly membership, an individual must, be a citizen of Pakistan and over the age of 25.  The PPP gov’t in Sindh has also announced December 27 as the public holiday to enable the people to participate in the death anniversary.

The Oxford-educated young Bilawal was appointed the PPP Chairman, days after the tragic assassination of his mother, Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, on December 2007. However, he has never been active in politics due to his incomplete education and remained as a symbol since his appointment.

There is also an impression that his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, the PPP co-chairman, had kept Bilawal out of practical politics to remain in control of both – government and party’s affairs. Now when the PPP is near to complete its five-year term in mid-March and will face the election challenge, it has decided to bring Bilawal for election campaign.

Naheed Khan, who served as political secretary to Benazir Bhutto for years, says that Benazir did not want her children join politics. However, the PPP needs a person with Bhutto’s tag to lead the election campaign and the leadership considers Bilawal as the best choice.

The PPP sources say that President Zardari has done a lot to impart political training of his son and teachers had been hired to teach him Urdu. Zardari took Bilawal along with him in some trips to the important capitals to introduce him to the world leaders. Leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had been critical at the Bilawal participation at the last month summit of D-8 or Developing Eight countries in Islamabad.

PPP leaders believe that Bilawal’s participation in the election drive will give a boost to the party which is likely to face a tough challenge in the polls. Political rivals say the PPP has failed to deliver to the public in its five-year rule and that its leaders had allegedly been involved in rampant corruption.

The Transparency International in a recent report said corruption has increased in Pakistan, the claim denied by the PPP leaders.

There is no doubt that Bilawal’s joining the politics and leading the election campaign will encourage the party’s activists but it is premature to expect that his charm will have any deep impact on the public vote in the wake of the performance of the PPP government.

The alleged corruption, price-hike, worst energy crisis, unemployment, govt-judiciary tussle, failure to curb terror attacks, sectarian and political violence in Karachi and many other problems have badly hit the PPP’s five-year performance. These problems will haunt the PPP in the coming elections at a time when Bilawal is assigned to lead the party at this critical time.

The PPP leaders have also hinted some important announcement at the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto including the elections. The PPP leaders from across the country will also use the occasion to hold consultations on the party’s matters as many would assemble at for Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=36544

Posted by Tahir Khan on Dec 26 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.