The
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ( ):
is a centre-left political party in Pakistan
affiliated
with Socialist
International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest
political party of Pakistan
. To
date, its leader has always been a member of the
Bhutto family. The
Pakistan Peoples Party
Parliamentarians (PPPP) is a party formed in 2002 by the PPP
for the purpose of complying with electoral rules governing
Pakistani parties.
The party was founded on November 30, 1967 by
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was also its
first chairman. The party creed is: "
Islam is
our faith;
democracy is our
politics;
socialism is our
economy; all power to the people."
Although
its center lies in the southern province of Sindh
, it also has
considerable support in the more densely populated province of
Punjab
. The
party have been in power 3 times since its formation.
Notable leaders
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the founder and first chairman of the
Pakistan Peoples Party. His wife,
Nusrat
Bhutto, succeeded him as chairperson and held the position into
the 1980s. In 1982, Nusrat Bhutto, ill with cancer, was given
permission to leave Pakistan for medical treatment and remained
abroad for several years. At that point her daughter,
Benazir Bhutto, became acting head of the
party while Nusrat technically remained its chairman and was
referred to as such as late as September 1983. By January 1984,
Benazir was being referred to as the party's chairman. She had been
proclaimed chairperson for life,
Musharraf’s Political Future Appears Troubled, New
York Times, David Rohde, December 28, 2007 and as such was
chair until her assassination on December 27, 2007. Her
nineteen-year old son,
Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari and his father
Asif
Ali Zardari were appointed party co-chairmen on December 30,
2007.
- Chairs
- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
(1967-1979)
- Nusrat Bhutto (1979-1984)
- Benazir Bhutto (1984-2007)
- Asif Ali Zardari, and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (2007-To
date)
- Other prominent current members of the party
- Ameen Faheem, Vice Chairman
- Yousaf Raza Gillani, Vice
Chairman
- Senator Jahangir Bader, Secretary
General
- Senator Dr_Safdar_Ali_Abbasi
- Naheed Khan, Former Political
Secretary to Benazir Bhutto
- Aitzaz Ahsan
- Senator Raza Rabbani, Deputy
Secretary General
- Fauzia Wahab, Information
Secretary
- Farhatullah Babar, Spokesman
of the Chairman
- Senator Babar Awan, Finance
Secretary
- Dr. Fahmida Mirza, Speaker, National Assembly of
Pakistan
- Faisal Karim Kundi
- Senator Farooq H. Naik, Chairman Senate of Pakistan
- Senator Rehman Malik
- Aftab Shaban Mirani
- Shah Mehmood Qureshi
- Rizwan Qureshi
- Abdul Qadir Shaheen
- S.D.Shad
- Sardar Fraz Wahlah, President
PPP (Youth) Punjab
- Ahmad Mukhtar
- Zahir Ali Shah, President PPP
NWFP
- Nawabzada Lashkari
Raisani, President PPP Balochistan
- Qaim Ali Shah, President PPP
Sindh
- Pir Aftab Hussain Shah
Jilani, Senior Vice President PPP Sindh
- Naveed Qamar
- Samina Khalid Ghurki
- Raja Pervaiz Ashraf
- Qamar Zaman Kaira
- Sherry Rehman
- Malik Khalid Nawaz
Bobby, PSF Punjab President
Party Structure
The Party is structured from municipal unit levels up to the
federal level. The Central Executive Committee of the Party is the
supreme body that sets out the strategy for the party. The CEC is
headed by the Chairman / Co-Chairman and includes all the major
office bearers of the party.
General Elections 2008
After the assassination of PPP leader
Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007, the
2008 General
Elections which were scheduled to be held in January were
postponed until February 18. The PPP won the most seats, gaining a
total of 84 seats in the
National
Parliament. Co-chairman
Asif Ali
Zardari said that "Pakistan was on its way of ridding
dictatorships for ever", and appealed to the
Pakistan Muslim League leader,
former Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz
Sharif, to form a coalition controlling over half the seats in
Pakistan's 342 seat parliament.
On March 9, 2008 in a press conference held in Muree, Punjab, PML-N
Leader Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-Leader Asif Ali Zardari officially
signed an agreement to form a
coalition government. Titled the
PPP-PML summit declaration, the joint declaration both parties
agreed on the reinstatement of judges deposed during the
emergency rule imposed on 3 November 2007 by
Pervez Musharraf within 30 days
after the new federal government was formed. The nominee for the PM
would be fully supported by the coalition parties but the PM
nominee should carry forward both party agendas. Sharif stated in
the press conference that the Charter of Democracy had been
formulated by Benazir Bhutto and Sharif. Speaking at the press
conference for the first time Zardari stated that Shaheed Benazir
Bhutto's dream of PPP-PML-N uniting was her dream and that today
her dream came true. This agreement was to become known as the
Bhurban Accord. Zardari also offered
the PM slot to Sharif, who happily rejected the offer. The first
session of the new government opened up on March 17 2008 where the
PPP announced they would confirm who had been chosen as the
candidate of Prime Minister, within the next few days, although
Nawaz Sharif confirmed with the
BBC that the slot for PM had been chosen by the
PPP but did not say. Zardari is ineligible to be PM, but will take
a seat in the parliament after all his corruption charges were
dropped last week. On March 23, 2008 it was announced that the new
prime minister of the country would be
Yousaf Raza Gilani a former parliament
speaker, a fully committed PPP member, it has been confirmed that
Gilani would fulfill a full 5 year term, but speculation has been
growing that Gilani would complete an interim term as prime
minister until Zardari passes the hurdles he needs to overcome to
become Prime Minister.
Pervez
Musharraf has agreed with the decision made by the
parliament.
The
Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on
June 27, 2008, won 3 and 2 five by-election seats, respectively, to
the national parliament.
Polls were postponed for the 6th seat in
Lahore
due to Nawaz Sharif's
eligibility contest. A court ruled he was ineligible due to
the old conviction, amid the government appeal in the Supreme
Court, which will hear the case on June 30, thus postponing the
vote in the constituency. The 2 parties also won 19 of 23
provincial assembly seats where by-elections were held. The results
will not affect the February 18 general election results in which
Benazir Bhutto's PPP won 123 seats in
the 342-seat National Assembly and Sharif's party came second with
91, while
Pervez Musharraf's party
came third with 54 seats. Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)
won 8 provincial assembly seats, while the PPP won 7 provincial
seats.
See also
References
- http://www.ppp.org.pk/history.html
- Reuters News Agency, "Pakistan rally halted before march
begins", Globe and Mail, August 29, 1983
- Hall, Carla, "The April of Her Freedom Five Years Later,
Benazir Bhutto's Plea for Pakistan", Washington Post,
April 4, 1984
- "Mrs. Bhutto Asks Army To Overthrow Zia", New York
Times, September 27, 1983
- "Miss Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of the former Prime
Minister, Zulfikar Blutto, and chairman of the Pakistan Peoples
Party has been released from detention and has gone to Paris to be
with her cancer-stricken mother", Financial Times, January
11, 1984
-
http://www.pakistanileaders.com.pk/profile/Sardar_Fraz_Wahlah
- http://www.fadvocat.com
- news.bbc.co.uk, Ruling parties win Pakistan
polls
- reuters.com, Sharif's party does well in Pakistani
by-elections
- xinhuanet, Pakistan ruling coalition sweeps
by-elections
External links
election
commission pakistan 2002 gen elections pp-279 apple