Re: PPP - Meeting decision/ Bilawal as Chairman
I agree with James Bhaand, this chairmanship will only matter till elections. Peoples party without Bhutto's name attached to it is a weak party. It was ZAB and BB's charisma that made people elect PPP to power.
PPP will win this election, if there was any doubt before, and Bhotto name should be there to not only keep the vote bank but to get the sympathy votes from the undecided.
Post elections it will be entirely different. Makhdoom Amin Fahim will be the parliamentary leader, the PM, if PPP wins. Makhdoom sahib is a seasoned politician and a very nice person. He should be able to successfully lead the country without any Bhutto influence in the coming 5 years and if he does a good job, people will realize that PPP is not just Bhutto.
As far as Asif Ali Zardari is concerned, he will become a nobody. Even during her wife's premier ship he didnt have much say in PPP politics. He is not very popular within PPP so I do not see him playing any big role after the elections.
Bilawal will not have his premiership presented to him in a plate like BB got it. First of all BB was appointed by her father and her political career started while Bhutto was still alive. PPP was the biggest political party when Zia ul Haque took charge of the country and was still the biggest party when he left, mainly due to the political vacuum during the 11 years of military rule. By the time Bilawal is old enough to play any role, he will be just another Bhutto, like Murtaza or his daughter now.
Overall I see a marked change in PPP in the future. People like Amin Fahim, Aitezaz, Gilani and others can surely make a difference if the work honestly and rid PPP of the Bhutto name it so needs to win votes just now.
What I want to see is if the other big names that left PPP but won their seats in the previous elections will return or not. Amin is a respected name, can he bring the other heavyweights back and be the cohesive force to keep the party together?