ISLAMABAD - Once again, Pakistan People’s Party is going to contest the upcoming general elections from the platform of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians, which was formed in 2002 to avoid disbanding of the party under election rules, especially farmed for the purpose by the then dictatorial regime led by Pervez Musharraf.
The intra-party elections of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians held in Karachi on Saturday clearly showed the intention of Pakistan People’s Party that they would contest the upcoming general elections from the platform of PPPP instead of Pakistan People’s Party led by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Once again Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf were re-elected its President and Secretary General respectively. Both of them were also the pioneer President and General Secretary as well when this new party was formed just to save the party from disbandment in 2002, owing to stringent election laws especially carved out to keep the PPP out of the electoral process.
Even in 2008 elections, the Pakistan People’s Party was compelled to contest the elections from the platform of PPPP due to so many reasons on top of it the party’s life chairperson had lost her life in a suicide attack in December 2007.
The political analysts saw so many reasons for the party leadership to contest the upcoming general elections from the platform of PPPP, as for the electorate and followers it is just meaningless whether the lieutenants of Bhutto are contesting from the platform of PPP or PPPP while on the other hand the party leadership could get some benefits out of the move.
In the view of some legal and constitutional experts this move on the part of President Asif Ali Zardari would benefit him in many ways. Mainly the objection on his person holding the office of President of Pakistan being a head of a political party would lose its significance, at least on legal grounds, because now he could claim that the party he was co-chairing with his son is no more in electoral race.
So, in this way the mounting pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari, for holding dual offices, would ease out to a great extent and as the party he would be heading is no more in electoral politics and his legal wizards could make a strong case out of it.
Some PPP leaders saw the issue of little or no significance because despite a lot of pressure on the party leaders and activists during the dictatorial rule of Gen Musharraf PPP returned as one of the major political force in the country and had given tough time to the dictator-backed democratic government.
The party registered by Makhdoom Amin Fahim as its President in 2002 was kept intact and despite returning back in 2007 Ms Beanzir Bhutto the life Chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party was compelled to continue to use PPPP as the electoral forum because of the legal intricacies due to which she could not get her original PPP get registered with Election Commission.
As Ms Benazir Bhutto had landed back under a deal commonly known as ‘National Reconciliation Ordinance’, which had lifted the bar on becoming prime minister for the third time but some insiders aware of the understanding reached between the General and Ms Benazir informed that Ms Benazir Bhutto had promised to Gen. Musharraf that she would not be contesting elections scheduled for end 2007 but she had defied the general but had lost her life in a suicide attack on her when she was returning home after addressing a public rally in historic Liaquat Bagh on December 27, 2007.
So, the PPP was left with no choice but to contest the elections from the platform of PPPP.
Later, President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also Co-Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, by design or default kept the things ambiguous and finally they once again reached at the threshold of the general elections.
But now they found it more beneficial to contest elections from the platform of PPPP as in this way they would smartly get off the hook of superior court’s direction to President Zardari to explain his position on holding dual offices because the party President Zardari is heading is nowhere in electoral race.