The PPP’s Magic

Sindh’s intellectuals weigh in on the ruling party’s success in the LG polls despite poor performance

Karachi: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the ruling party of Sindh province, sprung a surprise in the recently held local government (LG) polls as it emerged as the biggest party in Karachi and Hyderabad, cities where it had failed to gain a foothold in the past.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which has been the leading party of the urban areas of Sindh for over the past three decades, had boycotted the polls in protest against what it called “fake” demarcation of the LG constituencies.

However, instead of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which has been riding a wave of popularity since ouster of Imran Khan’s government in April last year and which practically had replaced the MQM in the urban Sindh in the 2018 polls, the PPP won the highest number of seats both in Karachi and Hyderabad.

The PTI and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) accused the ruling party of massive rigging as they took to the streets in protest while also announcing plans to move other relevant forums.

There is a general impression that during its 15 year rule in Sindh, the PPP has done little for the development of the province and its capital Karachi. Therefore the PPP’s success in the LG polls has sparked questions as to what is the secret of the PPP’s success.

Talking with reference to the PPP’s victory, eminent playwright Noorul Huda Shah said the people of both the urban and rural areas of Sindh have a native instinct.

“They take pride in being the sons of the soil and before supporting or voting for a party, they check the CNICs of the leadership of that party, their native language and whether the leaders can understand their language or not.

“This is a basic reason why the PTI, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) have remained unsuccessful in Sindh,” she said.

However, she added, even ultranationalists and separatists are not the choice of the people of Sindh.

“Nationalist parties have never managed to win elections here because the slogan of Sindhudesh has not a great appeal for the people of Sindh,” she said in a reference to the idea of a separate state for Sindhis as envisioned by veteran nationalist GM Syed.

Huda admitted that GM Syed is one of the two dominant political schools of thought in Sindh’s politics, the other political school of thought being the one founded by the PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

She said Sindh’s political consciousness is a combination of these two ideas.

“These two schools of thought naturally coexist in Sindh despite their differences. If common people do not raise the slogan of Sindhudesh, it is because of ZA Bhutto.”

She said the PPP will continue to be a popular party in Sindh as long as it has people like ZA Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto, who are ready to lay down their lives.

Huda clarified that she does not defend the PPP and has serious reservations about its performance in general and its response to the last year’s floods that wreaked havoc in Sindh

“During my visits to flood-hit areas, I asked people who they held responsible for this calamity. Interestingly, many people said that the establishment is responsible for their plight.”

She said as a member of civil society, she also wished that some other party might emerge to challenge the PPP but all other parties failed to gain ground as the PPP “has strong roots”.

She said like the PPP, the MQM also had roots in the urban areas.

“The MQM tried to cultivate relations with the local or rural population by chanting slogans, ‘we are the sons of the soil’. They are the son of the soil as they are born here and their ancestors are buried here.

“The MQM faced a downfall after it dissociated itself from its founder Altaf Hussain. All pro-establishment factions of the MQM will not serve the purpose.”

Academic Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat said there were multiple reasons for the PPP’s success in the LG polls, including use of electables and lack of options for the people of Sindh.

“The PPP gives its tickets to electable landlords who always win elections despite pitiable and miserable situations in almost all areas including Larkana, Sukkur, Jamshoro, Thatta and rest of Sindh.”

He said most people of rural areas lack political consciousness due to ignorance and illiteracy, adding that the PPP has created a fear among them that if they do not vote for it, the MQM will emerge as the ruling party of Sindh.

Dr Burfat said unfortunately no party has been able to gain overwhelming support from the people while the PPP also does not allow any party to emerge as its alternative.

“The PPP has been ruling over Sindh for 15 years and it knows how to misuse the Station House Officer (SHOs), the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) who play an important role in the PPP’s electoral success.”

He said he asked many MPAs of the PPP as to what they would do after winning elections.

“They replied they would get their favourite SHOs appointed at their desired police stations to exact revenge on their enemies. Political leaders of Sindh threaten their opponents in their speeches instead of talking about their plans to develop their areas.

“People of Sindh are in rags. Sindh is still inundated but the PPP wins elections. What should I say? Congratulations to the PPP,” he added.

Intellectual Madad Ali Sindhi, however, agreed with Noorul Huda Shah that the PPP has roots in people.

“The party’s performance falls short of the public expectation but it has also done development work in interior Sindh. Interestingly, a boycott by the MQM-P did not impact the PPP’s vote bank at all.”

Talking with reference to the LG polls controversy, he said if the LG system is not improved on a war footing then the same situation will emerge in future.

He said issues of Sindh could not be addressed until the massive influx of Pakhtoon population was not stopped. He said both the PPP and MQM should sit together to resolve this issue.

“More Pathans are living in Karachi and the rest of Sindh than in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.  No other province of the country has such an unprecedented situation like Sindh.

Writer Nawaz Kumbhar said the opposition parties of the PPP are weak and landlords of Sindh and even voters are opportunists. “Haris [farmers] totally depend on their landlords as they have no land, house and living. They are at the mercy of their landlords and do whatever these landlords want them to.”

He said the PPP could not evolve any fruitful strategies to attract voters but it had done some good works like constructions of road infrastructure and building of state-of-the-art hospitals.

“The PPP has some democratic and political values which other parties lack. You may at least criticize the PPP on its poor performance without fear of retaliation.

“The PPP did not work during floods but other local parties and charitable NGOs also did not help the victims properly. It was a good opportunity to garner support from people,” he said.