PPP sets off on election campaign

DAILY TIMES

President Asif Ali Zardari has given another assurance on the victory of Pakistan People’s Party in the upcoming general elections, especially in Punjab. The election campaign of the party will start off in Punjab from Mandi Bahauddin. Sounding spirited and upbeat, the president does not see any reason why would PPP not win in Punjab with the cooperation of its allies and in return become a major party to lead the Centre. Since the beginning of this year, the president has been trying to close ranks with the politically influential families in Punjab and in his bid to prove PPP’s seriousness, he whipped up the campaign of Seraiki Province and restoring Bahawalpur’s provincial status. President Zardari was in Lahore on September 14 and during his stay he met party workers in the Governor’s House and emphasised the need to reorganize the party in Punjab, to start general elections preparations and to address development issues in the relevant constituencies. He assured holding free and fair elections on time. He made it absolutely clear that PPP will not allow any unconstitutional move to cut short the journey of democracy the country has started after prolonged efforts. On new provinces in Punjab, he held out a promise to get the job done before the general elections. There is little doubt that the PPP is not comfortably placed in Punjab and out of many reasons one that stands out is the diminishing morale of the party workers who have felt left out since the demise of Benazir Bhutto. PPP’s leadership has been accused of missing out on its workers many times in the past. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s political troubles in the 1970s originated because of the alienation of party workers. Though Abdul Qadir Gilani’s victory in the by-election in Multan in NA 151 is hailed as a success by the PPP, the thin margin by which Qadir won, 3,000 votes, against Boson rang alarm bells, showing that things were not that simple even in southern Punjab. The party could not bring out a majority of PPP’s voters, hence the close shave victory. The creation of ‘South Punjab’ is an effort to win back the vote bank lost because of the negligence of the party in the area. In central Punjab the PPP is relying on PML-Q. Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf as a spoiler for the PML-N vote bank in central Punjab is another consolation for the PPP. Though the PPP has laid its cards bare on the election game in Punjab, how would it perform eventually can be ascertained by the results. The claim of the president that he could achieve new provinces in Punjab before the general elections does not conform with the ground realities, especially the constitutional requirements. Article 239 (4) of the constitution that deals with the creation of provinces reads, “A Bill to amend the constitution which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province shall not be presented to the president for assent unless it has been passed by the provincial assembly of that province by the votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership.” PPP has 105 seats in the Punjab Assembly against the two-thirds constitutional requirement of 248 votes. On the other hand PML-N is already fuming over the Parliamentary Commission. It has boycotted all the sessions of the commission so far. Under such circumstances, how does the President arrive at the conclusion of being able to create the new provinces nevertheless is beyond comprehension. The PPP emerged relatively successful in Punjab in 2008. However, the disconnect between the party’s leadership and its workers and the party’s performance on national issues has led to a waning in its popularity in the province. How will the party manage all this successfully is a big question mark.