Punjab PPP chapter may witness major changes ahead of poll: Wattoo may be named provincial chief

Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) leadership has decided to reshuffle its Punjab hierarchy to reinvigorate its ranks to regain lost ground in the province, sources told Business Recorder on Saturday. According to sources, PPP leaders have decided to appoint federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo as the party's new provincial president, replacing Imtiaz Safdar Warraich.
Wattoo wields considerable influence across the province and the party believes that he would be able to muster considerable support ahead of the upcoming elections. Sources said that the party's top brass believed that it would be unwise to rely on Warraich, Raja Riaz and Governor Latif Khosa, because they were not "as politically astute as Wattoo".
Wattoo enjoys President Zardari's trust more than anyone else in Punjab. The President is learnt to have given Wattoo a free hand to gather the support of political families in central and southern Punjab, besides wooing independent electables, and pacifying disgruntled elements within the party. Wattoo, the sources said, "is an expert in the politics of alliances".
PPP's leadership believed that Wattoo could counter the ruling party in the province, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, better than anyone else. He had accomplished a similar feat in the 90s, they reminded. Wattoo secured the office of the chief minister in 1993 after a vote of no-confidence against PML-N's chief minister Ghulam Haider Wyne.
The party also decided to appoint Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, an MNA from Faisalabad, as PPP Punjab's general secretary. The sources said that the party's popularity had been on the decline in Punjab over the past four years and the party's top leadership blamed key office-bearers responsible for the situation. Sources claimed that a reshuffle was also expected at the lower level.
According to sources, party workers had complained to Faryal Talpur that PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safadar Warraich was not accessible. They also complained that Warraich was not a public figure. President's Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told Business Recorder that no change was on cards in the ranks of office-bearers in Punjab. However, sources maintained that the denial may be an attempt to forestall speculations.