Coincidental to Benazir Bhutto's 'Chehlum', a kind of debate has erupted as to who would be the PPP's candidate for the office of prime minister in the next government. It was almost a settled issue in that the party high command in its caucus at Naudero soon after the burial of their slain leader, had decided that Makhdoom Amin Faheem would be the party nominee for heading the government.
The decision was unanimous, with full support of Asif Zardari whose appointment by Benazir Bhutto as the party chief for the "interim period" was also endorsed by the same caucus. But as with the passing of days the imperative of realpolitik caught up, an impression began to build that Asif Zardari does have the required competence to lead the party in the parliament as well. It was Senator Babar Awan who broke the silence and publicly said that Asif Zardari would be the PPP's candidate for the office of prime minister.
A few days later a US newsmagazine, Newsweek, quoted him having said in an interview that he is the party's "best known face" and in case it was required he could assume the role of country's chief executive.
But the report was almost instantaneously denied, even by Zardari himself who told a group of visiting journalists he was not a candidate for the office of prime minister. His argument was that since he was not standing for election to parliament, there was no question of setting his heart on the prime ministerial slot.
The release of Benazir Bhutto's will for public view, Asif Zardari's purported comment to the American weekly about his candidature for the prime ministerial post and its instantaneous clarification - the three developments that came in quick succession should greatly help in understanding the mind of the PPP as it goes to polls on February 18. In all probability, the will was made public to stifle the ongoing murmur in some rural quarters of the party in Sindh that Zardari, a non-Bhutto, had 'imposed' himself on the party.
And his move to rename his son as Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was being interpreted as an all-too obvious attempt at camouflaging his game plan to wrest the party from the Bhutto family. With the will now seen by the public wherein Benazir Bhutto has reposed full confidence in her spouse's legitimacy and competence to inherit the party leadership, the PPP should have the unity that any party would like to put on show on the eve of general elections.
In turbulent times like the ones the PPP is presently undergoing, it is not very uncommon that political structures break up into many factions. It was nothing short of a political miracle that the party high command had succeeded in tiding over its first test that came in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Her control over the party was all pervasive and total with no clear heir apparent. But the party did not splinter up when it made sudden departure, the credit for which goes to the senior party leaders.
Political parties are an inescapable reality in democracy, even when they flourish in corruption and ineptitude. The American founding fathers, contemptuous of the contemporary party-based European politics as they were, did not envisage any role for political parties in the constitution they wrote for their newly liberated country. But that was a misplaced premise, soon to crumble. Within less than 25 years, political parties emerged on the scene and in no time dominated the electoral process. Over the years as these entities became inevitable, they also tended to monopolise political space, so much so that there are now only two main parties who speak for more than 95 percent of voters.
In that limited number of parties lies the strength of American democracy. There is no reason why the same should not be applicable to Pakistan. So irrespective of the methodology the PPP leadership employs to keep the party in one piece, the attempt should be welcomed. A strong united PPP would serve the cause of democracy better than a splintered outfit at war with itself. If Asif Zardari carries the heavy baggage of a tainted past his rivals are not travelling light either.
Quintessentially, it is the PPP that would decide who would be its nominee for the office of prime minister, and the PPP says it has not yet made up its mind on this question. Even if the party had decided on this issue and declared Asif Zardari as its future prime minister, it would not have greatly impacted the voting pastern. The PPP voter would vote for the party in deference to his love for Benazir Bhutto. It is not of much interest, or concern, to him whether it would be Asif Zardari or any other party leader that he should put into the Prime Minister House.