Dynastic politics

In an interview with BBC TV's Hardtalk the other day, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari attempted to put the dynastic politics of the PPP down to 'circumstances' rather than choice. He argued that the death of his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and later his mother Benazir Bhutto, had thrust first her and then him into leadership of the party. Barely three days after Benazir's death, the Central Executive Committee of the PPP asked him to take charge. When asked if the PPP was only a Bhutto party, he declined to go into the merits and demerits of dynastic politics while conceding that although the phenomenon had no place in modern democracies, it was a reality in Pakistan. However, he asserted, the PPP stood for a democratic, socially just and modern Pakistan. When asked whether, his father Asif Zardari, or he was in charge, he said decisions were taken by consensus by the party's higher echelons and no one person was in charge. When questioned whether the PPP had forgotten its ideology, Bilawal dissembled by asserting that the party was committed to democracy and had maintained its roots. He revealed that his grandfather's slogan of roti, kapra aur makaan (bread, clothing and housing) would again be the leitmotif of the party in the forthcoming elections. He blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the party's debacle in the 2013 elections, arguing that while the TTP openly warned the party would not be allowed to campaign, they threatened and kidnapped candidates and a former prime minister and the late Governor's sons. On the other hand the TTP called the PML-N, PTI and JI their 'allies' and gave them a free hand. Anti-democratic elements too, including former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry, prevented the party from campaigning. When quizzed about the corruption charges against Asif Zardari, Bilawal pointed out that his father had spent 11 years in prison without a conviction. He also asserted that each and every case against his parents had been fought out and they were acquitted after a struggle of over 30 years. The interviewer tried to interject with the assertion that Imran Khan continued to accuse Zardari of corruption and he was not a man who lied. On the contrary, Bilawal shot back, he does lie and this is by now a matter of record. He went on to reiterate that Musharraf was involved in Benazir's murder, but justice had still not been delivered 10 years after that tragic event. Pakistan, he reminded, had a history of military dictators assassinating PPP leaders and members. The UN investigation into Benazir's assassination at Asif Zardari's appeal had come to the same conclusion, despite the fact that PPP ministers refused to record their statements to the UN investigators, which Bilawal admitted was the fault of the party. He also reminded that Musharraf was under trial for treason.
While Bilawal's remarks contain more than a grain of truth and must be appreciated for their candour, it is what he did not say that acquires more weight as a result. The PPP is today a pale shadow of a once mighty party, restricted largely to Sindh because it has abandoned its original élan and ideology of a radical left wing programme. When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged, Benazir changed tack and embraced the fashionable neo-liberal paradigm of the time, thereby disillusioning the party's committed cadre, especially in Punjab. That is perhaps the most significant factor in the decline of the party in its erstwhile stronghold. The fact also is that the PPP, much like other parties in Pakistan, hardly has the kind of internal democracy that could allow people other than the Bhuttos to climb up through the ranks on merit (the case of the PML-N and ANP is similar). But this phenomenon of dynastic politics is not confined to Pakistan alone but rife throughout South Asia. The dynastic politics on display now and in the past in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka proves the point. This South Asian phenomenon is perhaps rooted in our social ethos.