Asif Zardari has planned to secure 50 seats each from the Sindh and rest of the provinces in next general elections, said party sources. "Pakistan Peoples Party would be in a bargaining position even if it bags only 25 seats from the rest of the provinces, as no political party would be in a position to form government without striking a coalition deal with us," said a party source who has worked closely with former President Zardari during the last PPP government.
So far as the Sindh Assembly is concerned, as many as 130 members were elected by direct election; 29 seats were reserved for women and nine for religious minorities in 2013 elections. He said Zardari was working on the potential candidates in each district who were defeated by the PMLN in last elections. He is contacting every potential candidate at the constituency level irrespective of his party affiliation and making him offers of all sorts to win his loyalty, the sources added.
The party sources pointed out that Zardari had no ambitious plans like the PMLN and the PTI. "Both the PML-N and the PTI are vying for a two-third majority in next general elections while Zardari was aiming at seat adjustment with either of two mainstream parties to ensure a bargaining position for the slot of prime minister," they added.
The party sources said Zardari has put all his attention on the province of Sindh and trying to win loyalties of electable and notable ones at the constituency level.
According to the party circles, the 2018 general elections would take place on the urban and rural divide instead of central and South Punjab. They said both the PML-N and the PTI have focused on the urban areas while the PPP was putting all its energies on the electable and notables ones in rural areas.
They said PPP would prefer seat adjustment with all its opponents in rural areas instead of forming an electoral alliance with them. Zardari has also ruled out the possibility of electoral alliance with opposition parties while addressing party workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The party insiders said the party leadership was in the process of finalizing its manifesto for next general elections and political make and break would be on its peak after two months when the Holy month of Ramadan and Eid festival would be over. Delimitation, following the national census, would be another crucial factor before finalizing the electoral strategy for 2018, they added.
The party circles said the political situation would be clearer in the month of October and November when the fate of investigation on Panama leaks would be settled in either form. They said the scandal has already damaged the credibility of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is also facing criticism on the front of social sector uplift, increase in national debt, inflation, shortage of electricity, zero impact of CPEC on common man, drop in exports, Jindal controversy, foreign policy lapses and re-emergence of terrorist activities.
They also pointed out that the 2018 general elections were very crucial for the PPP, as it would either be the winner of the situation arising out of a fragmented mandate or become ineffective like the Congress party in India. "Both the media and public perception about the PPP is very negative and it is not being taken as a deliverer like the PML-N or an anti-corruption party like the PTI," said a top leader of the party.
"Bilawal is the only trump card with us subject to the public approval for him in next general elections," he said and added that Bilawal was not accepting pressure in the party reorganisation spree, which was a good sign for party workers.