A.Rafay
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ISLAMABAD: The young lot of leading politicians is poised to contribute in a big way to the poll campaigns of their elders for the upcoming general elections.
The scions of Sharifs, Chaudhrys, Gilanis and Zardaris are flexing their muscles to extend a helping hand to their fathers and brothers so as to prepare themselves to take up the mantle at the ripe time. However, some of them have already assumed this responsibility. There is still no news about Fatima and Zulfikar, the children of the real Bhutto heir, Murtaza Bhutto.
The elders will make use of their extensive experience and skills in the electoral field as they have contested several elections over the past few decades, which they have been winning or losing.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who will become qualified to contest for a national or provincial assembly seat in September 2013, is set to jump in the fray. Now Bilawal will get into the (political) field, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf declared at his first-ever public meeting in Kasur on Sunday, confirming the widespread speculation that the young boy will give a fillip to the partys campaign for the next parliamentary polls.
The PPP congregation to be held on December 27 to mark Benazir Bhuttos sixth assassination anniversary at Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi is being stated to be providing the platform for the formal launching of politics and election campaign by Bilawal.
But even before, for quite some time President Asif Ali Zardari has been grooming and coaching him by taking him along in high level party meetings, the latest held in Karachi two days back. On one side were sitting the president and Bilawal and on the other Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad.
When asked about Bilawals jump in the political field some time back, President Zardari had stated that the young boy was yet to learn and know a lot including Bulleh Shah.
The PPP leaders have hinted that after the announcement of the election schedule, the president, who was also the PPP co-chairman, would not take part in the polls campaign because of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court.
Already, Zardari has cut down his political activities at the presidency due to these rulings, one of his aides told The News.
No official statements are now issued even if the president holds any political meeting at his office or residence whereas in the past such handouts were regularly released.
The PPP leaders say Bilawal will fill the vacuum and run the partys election campaign effectively. They plan to invite him to different districts all over Pakistan during electioneering.
On the other side, while Hamza Shahbaz belonging to the Sharif clan is already in the political ring, Maryam Nawaz has had a smooth induction in this arena. Since her induction, she is mainly concentrating on the female and young voters, apparently in a bid to counter the onslaught of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). She has largely replaced her mothers role in the party, as Begum Kalsoom Nawaz has restricted her activities due to her health issues, a senior PML-N leader told The News.
Even PML-N stalwarts privately concede that since Maryams effective participation in the partys activities, Hamzas role has been overshadowed to some extent although he continues to address public meetings in places where his father could not go.
Maryam, who briefly assisted her mother in politics in 2000 when Nawaz Sharif was imprisoned following the overthrow of his government, has a clean slate while Hamza has been embroiled in different controversies, the last being his supposed marriage with Ms Aisha. He denies to have wed her while she makes the opposition claim.
However, since the activation of Maryam, her spouse Capt (Retd) Safdar is in the background to which he was further pushed because of the suspension of his party membership for his outbursts against some senior PML-N leaders of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is now restored to his previous position but is silent since then.
The third young man, Moonis Elahi, son of top PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, has been made the point man of his party in Punjab to add to its election campaign. Thus the Chaudhrys have given him a key role in the run up to the forthcoming polls. They have been discreetly presenting him as their nominee for the office of the Punjab chief minister should the election results land the PML-Q in a position to clinch the slot.
They will fight to get the berth for him if the PML-Q bagged a respectable number of seats in Punjab in collaboration with the PPP. Their opposition to Manzoor Wattoos nomination as the president of the PPP Central Punjab is primarily for the reason that he quickly started putting up himself as the actual man getting the job of the chief minister following the next polls.
The Chaudhrys have included Moonis Elahi in the wheeling-dealing for the party. He has addressed some party conventions in different cities and plans to hold further such activity as elections draw close.
PTI Chairman Imran Khans both sons are studying in Britain, and they are still ages away from qualifying to take part in politics and subsequently contest elections. However, the PTI chief, who has repeatedly spurned dynastic politics, has no plan to bring them in politics.
The Gilani sons have already made their name in politics and getting involved in corruption cases, as if that was the starting point to become a successful politician.
The next generation of politicians, warming up for boxing ring
The scions of Sharifs, Chaudhrys, Gilanis and Zardaris are flexing their muscles to extend a helping hand to their fathers and brothers so as to prepare themselves to take up the mantle at the ripe time. However, some of them have already assumed this responsibility. There is still no news about Fatima and Zulfikar, the children of the real Bhutto heir, Murtaza Bhutto.
The elders will make use of their extensive experience and skills in the electoral field as they have contested several elections over the past few decades, which they have been winning or losing.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who will become qualified to contest for a national or provincial assembly seat in September 2013, is set to jump in the fray. Now Bilawal will get into the (political) field, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf declared at his first-ever public meeting in Kasur on Sunday, confirming the widespread speculation that the young boy will give a fillip to the partys campaign for the next parliamentary polls.
The PPP congregation to be held on December 27 to mark Benazir Bhuttos sixth assassination anniversary at Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi is being stated to be providing the platform for the formal launching of politics and election campaign by Bilawal.
But even before, for quite some time President Asif Ali Zardari has been grooming and coaching him by taking him along in high level party meetings, the latest held in Karachi two days back. On one side were sitting the president and Bilawal and on the other Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad.
When asked about Bilawals jump in the political field some time back, President Zardari had stated that the young boy was yet to learn and know a lot including Bulleh Shah.
The PPP leaders have hinted that after the announcement of the election schedule, the president, who was also the PPP co-chairman, would not take part in the polls campaign because of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court.
Already, Zardari has cut down his political activities at the presidency due to these rulings, one of his aides told The News.
No official statements are now issued even if the president holds any political meeting at his office or residence whereas in the past such handouts were regularly released.
The PPP leaders say Bilawal will fill the vacuum and run the partys election campaign effectively. They plan to invite him to different districts all over Pakistan during electioneering.
On the other side, while Hamza Shahbaz belonging to the Sharif clan is already in the political ring, Maryam Nawaz has had a smooth induction in this arena. Since her induction, she is mainly concentrating on the female and young voters, apparently in a bid to counter the onslaught of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). She has largely replaced her mothers role in the party, as Begum Kalsoom Nawaz has restricted her activities due to her health issues, a senior PML-N leader told The News.
Even PML-N stalwarts privately concede that since Maryams effective participation in the partys activities, Hamzas role has been overshadowed to some extent although he continues to address public meetings in places where his father could not go.
Maryam, who briefly assisted her mother in politics in 2000 when Nawaz Sharif was imprisoned following the overthrow of his government, has a clean slate while Hamza has been embroiled in different controversies, the last being his supposed marriage with Ms Aisha. He denies to have wed her while she makes the opposition claim.
However, since the activation of Maryam, her spouse Capt (Retd) Safdar is in the background to which he was further pushed because of the suspension of his party membership for his outbursts against some senior PML-N leaders of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He is now restored to his previous position but is silent since then.
The third young man, Moonis Elahi, son of top PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, has been made the point man of his party in Punjab to add to its election campaign. Thus the Chaudhrys have given him a key role in the run up to the forthcoming polls. They have been discreetly presenting him as their nominee for the office of the Punjab chief minister should the election results land the PML-Q in a position to clinch the slot.
They will fight to get the berth for him if the PML-Q bagged a respectable number of seats in Punjab in collaboration with the PPP. Their opposition to Manzoor Wattoos nomination as the president of the PPP Central Punjab is primarily for the reason that he quickly started putting up himself as the actual man getting the job of the chief minister following the next polls.
The Chaudhrys have included Moonis Elahi in the wheeling-dealing for the party. He has addressed some party conventions in different cities and plans to hold further such activity as elections draw close.
PTI Chairman Imran Khans both sons are studying in Britain, and they are still ages away from qualifying to take part in politics and subsequently contest elections. However, the PTI chief, who has repeatedly spurned dynastic politics, has no plan to bring them in politics.
The Gilani sons have already made their name in politics and getting involved in corruption cases, as if that was the starting point to become a successful politician.
The next generation of politicians, warming up for boxing ring
