People’s Party of Pakistan [PPP]
The Pakistan Peoples Party was launched at its founding convention held in Lahore on November 30 - December 01, 1967. At the same meeting, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was elected as its Chairman. Among the express goals for which the Party was formed were the establishment of an "egalitarian democracy" and the "application of socialistic ideas to realize economic and social justice". A more immediate task was to struggle against the military dictatorship at the height of its power when the PPP was formed.
People’s Party of Pakistan [PPP] leader Benazir Bhutto is in self-exile in Dubai [and facing a corruption conviction], but still exerts enormous influence over the party. Under the banner of the People’s Party of Pakistan Parliamentarian [PPPP], and the leadership of Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the PPPP to have strong support nationwide. At first, the PPPP looked to the rhetoric of ‘roti-kapra-makan’ [bread-clothes-home] trinity of socialist revolution, but this had minimal impact. Instead the PPPP’s greatest mileage is coming from its opposition to General Musharraf and its promise to return to pure democracy. It is conscious of the fact that its voters will vote in reaction rather than in response to any new promise. Their reaction in Punjab would be against both factions of the PML and the religious parties. In Sindh the PPPP rural vote would be against the MQM muhajir vote and against Punjabi domination in general. Some leaders may refer to the tyranny of the IMF, since Ms Bhutto as prime minister did not get on well with the IMF, but given her current policy of courting the West, this would remain at best muffled. The continuing scandals in the domain of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies also gives ammunition to PPPP. Ms Bhutto’s charisma itself exercises the greatest pull and the Musharraf government’s policy of keeping her out of the country is expected to attract sympathy votes. The verdict of time on the PPPP’s past policy of doling out jobs is so clearly negative that this time around the party is not promising massive employment of supporters in the state sector. Pre-poll rigging is also a big election slogan for the PPPP.
