This is apropos aBusiness Recorder editorial 'Reinventing the PPP' carried by the newspaper yesterday. It has pointed out, among other things, "Over the past five years or so, the PPP seems to have steadily lost hope of recapturing its former stronghold in southern Punjab, while at the same time it became increasingly irrelevant in the rest of the province."
There are numerous reasons behind PPP's decline in the largest province of the country. It was Punjab that had actually catapulted Zulfikar Ali Bhutto into power. Unfortunately, however, the PPP under Benazir Bhutto fell into the trap of the Establishment by expending her energies in a fight against the Sharifs who had raised the bogey of parochialism and provincialism. The other major reason behind PPP's woes in Punjab is PPP governments failure to deliver even in Sindh. The Sharifs and the Chaudhries have fared well in Punjab as compared to PPP's performance even in its home province. Insofar as Bilawal Bhutto is concerned, PPP has a chance to attract Punjab youth. But this will require him to reinvent the party's approach to governance without any further loss of time.