Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday tendered an apology to the PPP sympathisers after being let down by the party for any reason. In an emphatic appeal to supporters on a social networking website, Bilawal admitted that the PPP had made mistakes in the past.
"To those whose heart beats with the PPP, but feel let down for any reason; first of all, allow me to apologise personally for letting you down. We do not claim to be perfect, we acknowledge mistakes have been made in the past and are committed to reforming and re-earning your trust," he said on Twitter.
"In the interim period, if you are considering supporting another political party, please choose wisely. Do not punish Pakistan or its democracy for my shortcomings. Please do not support anti-democratic parties or political parties which appease extremism," he said.
Bilawal said that Pakistan has enough right wing, dictatorship-loving and TTP-appeasing political parties. "If you are frustrated with the party, I would like to suggest more productive ways to do legitimate opposition. The PPP is a democratic party and all internal dissent is welcome," he said. He said that the best way to influence the PPP party policy was to join it, and bring change to both the party and the country from within.
"If party policy is unacceptable to you, and you are considering joining another party, I would suggest joining pro-democracy and pro-people political parties in Pakistan," he said. Bilawal said the PPP welcomes and encourages other left-wing political parties to join the political process.
"In fact, if any former sympathisers are looking to attend a political event today, I would suggest attending the AWP Congress in Islamabad. No one can claim to have once supported SZAB or SMBB, but today support either dictatorship or extremism," he said.