The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it may reconsider its stance on the election date at the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled for today (Thursday) in Lahore.
Some speculate the PPP will reaffirm its demand for timely polls in an effort to increase pressure on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce a date for general elections, while others claim the party will reconsider its position in light of the new development, including the meeting between the party delegation and the ECP.
It was suggested, however, by insiders that the party was considering a course correction to align with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s position on the election timeframe of 90 or 120 days.
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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the PPP, arrived in Lahore on Wednesday without a fanfare after launching his election campaign two days prior in Karachi.
Some in Punjab blamed the Lahore chapter’s inability to attract enough people for the failure to hold such a welcome.
In response, the Lahore chapter blamed the party managers for Bilawal’s campaign, arguing that they should have been more clear about when exactly Bilawal would arrive.
All CEC members, including Atizaz Ahsan and Sardar Latif Khosa, were called to the meeting, as stated by Acting PPP Punjab President Rana Farooq Saeed.
But whether or not the two leaders would show there was something he couldn’t be sure of. He replied, “It has not been made public.” in reference to the party’s CEC agenda.
In an interview with The Express Tribune, PPP spokesman Faisal Karim Kundi stated that the ECP’s pledge for timely polls will be submitted before the CEC members for consideration, in addition to the party’s demand for elections to be held within 90 days.
There is still a lot of uncertainty about the party’s stance on the polling date, but he assured everyone that “every suggestion, including Zardari’s, will be put on the table.”
For example, “the party will reaffirm its demand for elections within 90 days,” as former PPP MPA Hasan Murtaza put it.
He noted that the CEC meeting would also include discussion of the election campaign and related preparations.
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When asked about the apparent conflict between the PPP chairman and co-chairman’s statements on the polling day, he claimed that the statements were “misinterpreted by the media,” insisting that there was “no contradiction” between their statements.
An alternative leader, however, stated that the party will debate the “conflicting stances that have created an embarrassing situation” as a result of the split.
Keeping in line with Zardari’s stance, he suggested that the party would even consider “slightly changing its earlier announced position” and shifting from a strict demand of elections within a specified time frame to a “more generic demand” of polls at the earliest possible date.
But he indicated the party’s CEC will make that call.
A PPP official said that local party leaders had requested permission to plan a lavish reception. He disclosed, however, that the leaders were instructed to hold a ceremony only if a substantial crowd could be assembled.
Faisal Mir, leader of the PPP, scoffed at the idea, stating that the party preferred to host a reception but had yet to learn whether the PPP chairman would arrive by the motorway or GT Road. Faisal claimed that a lavish welcome would have been prepared if they had been given advance notice.
