What
keeps PPP in power
Sohail Sangi December 9, 2018
PPP continues to be the
leading force in rural Sindh. Opponents accuse it of misgovernance and
corruption but an objective view of the on-ground situation is in order.
Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) continues to lead from the front in Sindh. After
completing two terms in government, the party has again been voted in for a
third time in Sindh. Its base remains in the rural areas. What is it about the
party that has kept it in power for more than ten years? While the mainstream
media continues to project Sindh, and hence PPP, as a test case of bad
governance and corruption, an objective view of the reality on ground is in
order.
In all these years, among other
things, what goes to the PPP’s credit is the opening of as many as half a dozen
universities and the same number of university campuses in rural areas. Sindh
is also a major beneficiary of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).
According to figures from 2017, the number of beneficiaries of the programme in
Sindh is 1,905,436 as opposed to 2,022,831 for Punjab — a difference of 117,
395.
Of course, there are factors which
gave an edge to PPP and it played them intelligently. The interplay of culture
and politics — dynamics of power and resistance in the cultural and social
sphere — play an important role whose symbols, identities and narratives the
PPP deploys skillfully to further its politics.
Political dynamics, especially
those that are rooted in history, suggest that Sindh has consistently remained
engaged in a struggle for its identity, language and culture. Sindhi
intelligentsia believes the province’s identity has been under threat since the
British period when it had to endeavour for separation from Bombay Presidency.
After a gap of two decades, when One Unit was imposed in the new country, it
struggled afresh for its identity and language. Settlement of affectees of
partition in the province further complicated the situation.
Therefore, continuing with its
track record of soft cultural activities, PPP has opened institutes for music.
It has engaged with writers and intellectuals, while organising literary and
cultural festivals in nearly all districts of the province. No doubt these are
progressive steps. Some say the party has been playing with the emotions of the
people; others see it as the party’s essential ethos.
Emergence of Mohajir politics in
the province’s urban centres weakened all national level parties. PPP was a
major sufferer as it was confined to rural areas. Ethnic divide does play a
part in voting pattern and political support. The fear factor has also helped
PPP bag votes. This fear further rises when some sections talk about the
division of Sindh. It is construed that if PPP did not get a mandate, the
geographical integrity of Sindh would be jeopardised. This forces a united
mandate in favour of PPP from the rural belt.
It is
assumed that it is only PPP that can bring power to the Sindhis and they do
feel empowered. This fact lures the electables into its fold. The party has
been playing gimmicks of mainstreaming marginalised sections of society, like
making a Kolhi girl from Thar Krishna Kumari a senator and Tanzeela Sheedi an
MPA.
It also won over nationalistic
aspirations by trying to raise the issues of finance and water etc, which were
otherwise taken up by nationalists. It raised the issue of power shortage for
the province during the last five years, both at the level of government and
the party.
Politics
is not a three-month cycle of election; it is a continuous process spread over
five years and more. In Sindh, PPP is the only party which has been in this
mode. Analyst Naz Sahto explains: “PPP remains consistently in election mode.
Other parties which have a following in some districts do not venture into new
areas. They do not bother to formally review the post-election scenario and
look for mistakes made during the campaign.”
PPP has a network and it acts as a
political force, both in normal days as well as in election days.
What is more, the local leadership
gets to benefit a lot when the party is in power. It gets its share in jobs,
contracts, development work and commissions. Despite all criticism, middle and upper middle
classes have benefited from ‘corruption’ or what is known as patronage. “A good
number of people are beneficiaries of this corruption, directly or indirectly,”
analyst Manzoor Shaikh points out.
According to Vice Chairman Jeay
Sindh Qaumi Mahaz Asif Baladi, “we [in Sindh] have a different type of
development approach: to give a bit to the people and they will stand in hope
for more. PPP has done it; it gave some jobs, some roads, electricity and some
water pumps. Now people have started questioning and bargaining, though brokers
gain more from this bargaining.”
PPP focuses on local arrangements
of biradaris and
tribes; these local arrangements help it get votes. Ironically, this
non-political factor was introduced in our politics by Gen Ziaul Haq and was
matured by Gen Musharraf, particularly in the local bodies’ elections.
Pakistan People’s Party has the
sort of access that other parties don’t. “No one turns up after elections,
whether they win or lose. Murtaza Jatoi and Pir Sadaruddin Shah have both been
federal ministers; they practically delivered nothing to their voters or even
to the people of Sindh,” says researcher Aslam Khwaja.
Absence of alternative is another
major factor that has kept PPP in power; this means an alternative that is
better than the PPP. No strong and organised opposition exists in Sindh. The
parties and groups posing themselves as alternatives, practically and in
perception, are worse than the PPP.
Traditional mainstream political
parties, like PML-N and PTI, are least interested in Sindh affairs. Rather they
are more interested in ‘sweeping’ the elections in Punjab. These parties do not
opt for mass moblisation and organisation in Sindh. There might be two possible
indigenous alternatives: one, the elites who are opposed to PPP’s governance
and policies; two, the middle class or rising new classes, this includes Sindhi
nationalists, as happened in Punjab, KP and to some extent in Balochistan.
The alternative of elites under
the leadership of Functional Muslim League (FML) has been a failed experiment,
mainly because such parties or alliances surface only on the occasion of the
election. They do not believe that people matter in politics. Besides, they
have no alternate programme and strategies. As for the nationalists, they stand
divided, without any clear-cut goal and strategy. Therefore, PPP continues to
be the leading force in Sindh
Apart from provincial autonomy,
the 18th Constitutional Amendment has devolved more powers and funds to
provinces. This has defused the nationalist upsurge in provinces. In Sindh,
there is no narrative left with the nationalists except that PPP is not sincere
with Sindh.
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