Letter from Lahore: 'Forward bloc' - a serious blow to PPP

In the absence of Benazir Bhutto from the political scene in the country, her Pakistan People's Party has been delivered one of the most serious blows since its inception in the late 1960s.

The creation of a 10-member 'forward bloc', led by leaders from the heartland areas of Punjab, presents a grave threat to party harmony and turns into reality a fear the PPP leadership has lived with for decades.

This involves a 'rebellion' from Punjab and a rift within the party along provincial lines. With both Benazir's father, party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, executed in 1979, and Benazir herself, keeping constant vigil to suppress any such moves, leaders suspected of trying to create a niche from themselves in Punjab have been swiftly put in their place in the past.

The Bhuttos from Sindh are aware that a powerful leader from the majority province could create serious difficulties for them, and for these reasons have acted quickly when charismatic men like veteran PPP leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar from Muzzafargarh have shown signs of embarking on such a path.

However, the move orchestrated by Faisel Saleh Hayat, from Jhang, and Rao Sikander Iqbal, from Okara, appears to have taken the PPP leadership somewhat by surprise despite warnings over the past several weeks that such a move was afoot.

Benazir is said to have been kept in the dark on this issue to a considerable extent and told that reports of a 'forward bloc' were creations of the press and nothing more.

In addition, she is also said to have been lured into a false sense of security by the belief that the dashing Faisel, seen as one of Benazir's most ardent loyalists and a man linked romantically to her in the days before her marriage, at least within gossip columns, would never rebel against her.

Similarly, the quiet, sedate Rao Sikander Iqbal, a former Punjab president of the party, is seen as an unlikely rebel. The fact that all 10 MNAs produced by the 'forward bloc' leaders in Islamabad hail from Punjab is in itself a dangerous sign, indicating their displeasure over Amin Makhdoom Fahim's handling of party affairs.

Indeed, there has been disquiet in Punjab that Fahim, from Sindh, seems to have surrounded himself by mainly non-Punjabi leaders and Faisel has in fact openly stated that he believed Punjab was being neglected by the party leadership.

The 'forward bloc' leaders, however, insist they are not out to carve out a new party faction in Punjab and that they in fact remain loyal to Benazir. It is unclear what this means in practical terms, but for the present suggests the move is primarily directed against Fahim. Whether other party members from Punjab will choose to align themselves behind Faisel is as yet unclear.

Senior party leaders speak of desperate efforts by the rebels to bring more to their press conference in Islamabad where the 'forward bloc' was announced. Apparently, though commitments had been obtained from 25 MNAs, only 10 eventually stuck to the possibly dangerous decision to line up with the rebels.

Others apparently chose to go undercover and many could not be located as 'forward bloc' leaders made desperate calls to Lahore and other towns.

It would seem that these men had got cold feet, especially looking at the fate of those who had previously made attempts to break away from the PPP and landed in the political wilderness.

These include men such as former Punjab chief minister Ghulam Mustafa Khar and former party Punjab president Rana Shaukat Mahmood.

Despite their once prominent political profile, both have no major role to play in the present scenario and have in fact faded swiftly away from the limelight.

Whether Faisel and his men will be able to avoid suffering a similar fate is as yet uncertain even as activity within the party in Punjab heats up with efforts on to lure more over to the rebel camp said to be in full swing.