The return of Bhuttos

To many an inquisitive mind, the transference of Bhuttoism following the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto from Bhuttos to Zardaris was too smooth to be real. As it took place by the graveside of their slain leader late last December, none of the PPP stalwarts present demurred even by a whisper. The helm of the country's biggest party passed on to her spouse, Asif Ali Zardari, in accordance with her will, which was there, though, even Naheed Khan, her life-long confidante, had no inkling.
The operation was as clean as a whistle except for a minor exception; Ghinwa Bhutto, the widow of Murtaza Bhutto, contested Zardari's ascent to the PPP's top slot. She claimed Murtaza's daughter Fatima and son Zulfiqar Junior, to be the rightful inheritors of Bhuttoism. But in an ambience of 'the king is dead, long live the king' the streets of Larkana witnessed the disgraceful drama of Ghinwa and other Bhuttos being pushed aside by the new legatees. However, now it seems the narrative is going to change, the real Bhuttos, as they like to call themselves, have come back to lay claim to their inheritance.
Of course, ever since Asif Ali Zardari took over the reins of PPP in the name of his son, the real Bhuttos must have been thinking of retrieving from him the party leadership, as Fatima was acting in that direction through her writings, but it was the arrival of Shahnawaz Bhutto's daughter, Sassi Bhutto, at 70 Clifton last week that signalled the Bhuttos' clear determination to join battle with Zardaris. To the cynics, there is a touch of déjà vu, when Murtaza Bhutto returned after exile, he too laid claim to being the natural political heir to his father instead of his sister Benazir. He too unsuccessfully tried to wrest control of the party from Benazir, who saw the heavy hand of the establishment in his effort.
Reports say Ghinwa has met with some of the PPP old guard, including Mumtaz Bhutto and Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, and discussed revival of a Bhutto-led PPP. She also plans to travel to Bhit Shah and then to Larkana and the family graveyard at Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, where Sassi's father is buried along side her grandfather Z.A. Bhutto, uncle Murtaza and aunt Benazir. In the rural Sindh, a daughter visiting her father's graveside in circumstances surrounded by folklore as popular as Bhuttos', she is bound to send shivers down many spines.
The family tragedy that now runs into three generations, lends Bhuttos a cultic stature and has turned each Bhutto into an iconic figure, which Asif Ali Zardari and his company would find hard to dislodge. And more so now that a storm against Zardari and his hand-picked government is already brewing.
Most of the problems that the Zardari-guided government is facing today are undoubtedly a legacy passed on to it by the Musharraf regime, and, therefore, its successive failures are to some extent acceptable. But there are a lot more other things that are Zardari-specific and don't sit well with others in the coalition.
A growing number of his detractors are from the PPP itself and mostly from Sindh. Erstwhile PPP stalwarts like Amin Faheem, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Safder Abbasi and Raza Rabbani are indeed torn apart between their loyalty to their present leadership and their devotion to Bhuttoism. That schism in the ranks of the party is bound to deepen when the real Bhuttos will make the call. Nobody should underestimate Zardari's resilience; he is a man of crisis and has weathered huge storms. But there should be no doubt that if the Bhuttos mount the challenge he would be stretched to his last limits to defend himself.