ISLAMABAD - PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is ready to take "hard decisions" in the coming weeks as he plans to visit Punjab on a "reshuffle agenda" ahead of the Local Government (LG) elections, a senior party leader said.
"Bilawal is ready to take hard decisions where necessary. The schedule for his visit (to Punjab) has still not been finalised but he will be with the workers in the next few weeks", PPP Secretary Information Qamar Zaman Kaira told The Nation.
"It will not be Punjab alone, the PPP (Pakistan People's Party) leadership will reorganise the party in Sindh also. We have Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in mind too and definitely we want to do better in Balochistan", Kaira added.
The former information minister said intra-party elections were not on the agenda of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari 'right now' but "these elections will be held as we move further".
"The basic idea is to do better. We are in a difficult time right now and reorganisation should improve things. The results in the LG polls should be better", he maintained.
Kaira said the dissidents will also be contacted during the reorganisation drive. "This is part of the reorganisation. We want the dissidents to inform the leadership about their grievances and sort out the issues".
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will display Provisional Electoral Rolls in various cities of Punjab and Sindh from Tuesday (today). According to the ECP, the main objective of displaying the rolls is to correct mistakes and register objections as LG elections in both these provinces are scheduled for September 20.
The voter lists could be inspected at the offices of Registration Officers and Assistant Registration Officers in Punjab and Sindh for seven days.
Former President Asif Ali Zardari had earlier agreed to his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's demand to reshuffle the party's Punjab provincial leadership "where required". There have been rumours that PPP Punjab central President Main Manzoor Wattoo might be removed and accommodated in some other party office.
Bilawal, the son of Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has been slated as a future leader of Pakistan, to carry on the family dynasty. Albeit, the party workers have been waiting for his 'real ascension' to the top of the chaotic political structure due to his alleged differences with his father and other PPP members.
Media reports say Bilawal, who was named PPP chairman after his mother's assassination in 2007, has fought bitterly with his father and aunt, Faryal Talpur, over a number of issues. He is also angered by the PPP's failure to attract the votes of the youth like the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI).
In the recent weeks however the young Bhutto has been more active in party politics. He has been holding meetings with senior PPP leaders, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his cabinet members in a bid to improve governance in the province.
The PPP chief is presently in Dubai with his father Asif Ali Zardari and an Eid Millan Party-cum-political meeting will be held on Tuesday (today) to discuss the reorganisation of the party and the recent defections.
“Bilawal will come back to Pakistan soon after the meeting in Dubai and will go to Punjab for the reorganisation after some meetings in Karachi,” senior PPP leader Rehman Malik, who will be attending the Dubai meeting, told The Nation. "The reorganisation is need of the hour and we hope to start the process before the LG polls if it can't be completed by then", he added.
Sources said Zardari and Bilawal have started to agree on party affairs and will reshuffle the Punjab leadership after consultations. "The relationship (between the father and the son on party affairs) has improved. They are ready to take unanimous decisions now", a close aide told The Nation.
"They have already discussed the possible changes the party needs in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Final decisions regarding the reshuffle will be take soon", he confided.