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It has been a significant force on the country’s center-left since its founding in 1967, and the Bhutto family has dominated the party’s leadership. The southern province of Sindh is where its power centre located. The People’s Party has elected into power five times, while also making up the majority of the opposition four times. There have four PPP prime ministers in all.
The PPP dominated Pakistani politics in the 1970s, albeit it briefly suffered under Zia-ul-military Haq’s rule. Following Zia’s death in 1988, democracy was restored, and the People’s Party and the Islamic Democratic Alliance formed a two-party system that later replaced the Nawaz League.
Many believed that Ayub Khan’s actions in the 1970s fed the capitalist class at the expense of the general populace, as indicated by the sharp rise in economic inequality and poverty. 22 families controlled 66% of the industries and owned 87% of the nation’s banking and insurance sector, according to Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, the Planning Commission’s chief economist at the time. He made this observation in April 1968. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 caused the economy to collapse, and subsequent years saw a 20% fall in investment growth in Pakistan. Although Pakistan was unable to win the war in 1965, the military establishment promoted triumph. Both India and Pakistan signed the Tashkent Declaration in Uzbekistan under duress from the Soviet Union.
Pakistan would rebuild, according to Bhutto. Iron and steel, heavy engineering, heavy electrical, petrochemicals, cement, and public utilities were among the major industries Bhutto said would nationalise on January 2, 1972. A new labour policy unveiled, giving unions more clout. Despite coming from a feudal family himself, Bhutto proposed changes that restricted land ownership and a government takeover of more than a million acres to give to peasants who were without land. On the basis of corruption allegations, more than 2,000 federal servants fired. In addition to starting the country’s nuclear programme in January 1972, he was able to arrange with India the release of 93,000 prisoners of war and a settlement. Pakistan started on the path to parliamentary democracy with the adoption of the 1973 constitution.
The PPP sees itself as the defender of province autonomy in Pakistan’s federation, which is largely centralist. According to PPP ideology, the federal government has long overreached in the issue of Sindh. For instance, in 1948, Karachi became the federal capital. And in 1955, Sindh was combined with another province to establish the mega province of One Unit. 1 The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the main party of Mohajirs. It is the ethnic “other” that the PPP typically defends against as well as against perceived dominant centres. The PPP currently performs the opposition role in two different ways: in the national Parliament, where it challenges Khan’s PTI government in Islamabad, and in the second-largest province of the federation, where it acts as the ruling party and supports provincial agencies.
The PPP administration demanded the resignation of the head of the Indus River System Authority after allegations. He assisted Punjab in stealing water intended for Sindh and physically assaulted Sindh’s envoy during a meeting in May 2021. However, the PTI rejected the PPP’s call for renegotiation. And accused the PPP of using the water issue for partisan political purposes. The PTI is supported affiliates in Punjab who assert Sindh is inflating the water data.
When examining the PPP’s distinctive oppositional perspective, it is important to recognise how its control over Sindh forces it to take a practical stance on national issues. The PPP, in contrast to the PML-N and JUI-F, must strike a delicate balance. Having one foot in the Karachi government and the other in the federal opposition movement opposing the PTI. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has often warned allies in this regard to refrain from “impos[ing] their will and dictation” on the party.
The PPP is going through a generational change as it strikes this difficult balance. Bilawal, the son of former president Asif Ali Zardari and slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, as the party’s leader without any opposition in January 2021. In the same manner as his late mother and grandparents, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bilawal is working to restore charisma to the party’s hierarchy. Intraparty elections are uncommon because the Bhutto family controlled the party its founding. The PPP experiences weak internal democracy, just as other political parties in Pakistan. The Central Executive Committee (CEC), which serves as the “nerve centre of the party” and keeps an eye on party members’ actions. It is the primary decision-making body in de jure terms.
The PPP remains to the leading symbol of opposition, not only to the PTI but also to the establishment’s overarching control in national politics. Its incrementalist strategy for challenging the PTI government. The party has a long history of supporting important opposing activities in Pakistan. It included the 1980s Movement for the Democratic Restoration against president Zia-ul-autocracy. It occasionally took a gentler posture toward the establishment. For instance, in 2007, Benazir Bhutto came back to Pakistan from a self-imposed exile.
The PPP continues to hold a majority in the Sindhi electorate. However, despite controlling the Sindhi electorate, the PTI, the anti-PPP Sindhi landowner elite. Various MQM groups, and Sindhi nationalists all fought fiercely against it within the province. To really oppose the Sindh administration, the anti-PPP parties banded together. The MQM has persisted in supporting Sindh’s establishment despite its apparent downfall. The MQM sided with the federal administration on topics the enforcement of Article 149. Therefore, a fragile balance dominates provincial politics. Which forcing the PPP to experiment with subtle ethnic nationalism and present itself as the voice of Sindh.
In 2022, the PPP is at an intriguing crossroads. Due to its poor electoral results in other provinces during the earlier two federal elections in Pakistan . The PPP was only allowed to run in Sindh. The PPP aimed to regain in 2022. The party was a strong political force in Punjab. Pakistan’s biggest and richest province. It did not receive a sizable percentage of electors in Punjab during the previous two elections. The PPP has since been making an effort to reformat itself in Punjab. In fact, it may make a comeback if it can capitalise on its foundation in south Punjab.
Beyond protests on the streets, the party has stepped up communication with other opposition leaders in preparation for the general elections in 2023. In February 2022, PPP leadership paid a visit to PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif at his Lahore home. It is signaling a resurgence of opposition unity. Will Bilawal emulate Napoleon and succeed thanks to his grandfather’s charisma? In 2022–2023, would the PPP be able to step up its resistance to the PTI? The PPP is poised to put on a compelling demonstration of opposing politics.
