The Pakistan Peoples Party
The
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a progressive, federalist party founded in 1967.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the founder Chairman and the PPP’s manifesto may
broadly be categorised as social-democratic. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a giant of
Pakistan’s political landscape and history, was martyred in 1977. His daughter,
Benazir Bhutto, over a political career spanning three decades managed, against
all odds, to match her father’s charisma and was also his equal in the impact
that she had on many millions of her fellow citizens, particularly the youth,
the poor and women. Benazir Bhutto was martyred in 2007 during a campaign rally
in Rawalpindi. With characteristic bravery she had returned to the country to
take on the military regime ruling at that time. She is referred to as
Mohatarma Shaheed out of respect for her achievements and her martyrdom. Today, her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a young man with fresh ideas and the emotional charisma of the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto heads the Party.
The PPP has thrice been in power; most
recently from 2008 to 2013 when the PPP led coalition government was voted out
of power. These five years were perhaps some of the most difficult in
Pakistan’s history, with an unprecedented global economic depression and the
fallout of the war in Afghanistan impacting the lives of ordinary Pakistanis.
The PPP as part of a coalition government made some far-reaching changes to the
Pakistani constitution, including reducing the powers of the office of the
President and putting in place a true federal structure through the 18th
Amendment.
Unfortunately
these contributions were not enough to outweigh the real and perceived issues
of poor governance and corrpution and the party was voted out of power,
performing very poorly in the General Elections of 2013.
The
PPP has been written off many times. I believe the Party will rebuild and will
make a comeback. We have many capable young men and women in our midst, and are
fortunate to have colleagues in the Senate of the stature of Aitezaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani,
men who have been with the Party since its earliest days. By blending together
this youth and experience in a meritocratic party structure, by learning from
past failures and weaknesses, by being clear about who our voter is and by forging
a clear and compelling ideology we will ensure that inshaAllah the PPP triclour
will fly high once again.
The
PPP has a storied history. Some interesting links are given below:
http://www.ppp.org.pk/pppnewtask/
(this
is the official Party website)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Peoples_Party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto