The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the two major parties contesting the upcoming national election in Pakistan on 8 February, are historically known to shape Islamabad’s dynasty politics. Rooted in the country’s political culture, essentially based on class, tribe and caste, dynasty politics also acted as a deterrence to Pakistan’s path towards a successful democracy. The series of military coups witnessed decades-long rule by the military making it another party to this game.
Pakistan’s dynasty politics, coupled with strong military establishment, even though not formal at present, has been seen to sustain each other since the country’s independence. With Imran Khan’s conviction, the battle is now between the two major political dynasts — the Sharifs of PML-N and the Bhuttos of PPP. While the military’s apparent covert role in the upcoming election is certain, making it another rigged election, like the one witnessed in 2018, it is important to have a look at the heirs of Pakistan’s political dynasts — Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
While there are notable differences in the approaches of the two political dynasties towards politics, a few parallels can be drawn as well. Both Maryam and Bilawal have made their stronghold in politics by seeking legitimacy using their parent’s name.
Maryam Nawaz, the eldest daughter of the three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was known as Maryam Safdar after her marriage to then captain in the Pakistan Army Mohammad Safdar when she had not yet made her presence in politics. It was after the fall of the military regime and the first national election of civilian government in 2013 that Maryam Nawaz entered the public arena. Her prime objective was to secure Nawaz Sharif’s leadership who was then Prime Ministerial candidate.
Maryam was appointed in-charge of the PML-N election campaign, to counter Imran Khan’s popularity among the country’s youth, which successfully resulted in Nawaz Sharif becoming the prime minister for the third time. She was appointed as the chairperson of Prime Minister Youth Loan Programme by the new Sharif-led government which was challenged by the PTI in Lahore High Court, raising questions regarding her educational qualifications and ultimately leading to her resignation in 2014.
Now a popular figure and known as the new face of the PML-N, Maryam then took charge of PML-N’s social media wing to counter challenges posed by the PTI and made her mark through her sharp political statements. She also became a crowd-puller in her own right. She established her position as the heir apparent of Nawaz Sharif as noted in her political prominence and active participation in politics against the backdrop of Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification as PM in 2017 by the Supreme Court. So much so that Maryam Nawaz was named among the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2017 by the New York Times and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
However, the growing rift between Nawaz Sharif and the military establishment and the latter’s tilt towards Imran Khan and his party, the PTI, turned the tables. Ahead of the 2018 general election in Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif’s political career was almost over. Maryam was given a party ticket to contest in the National Assembly as well as in Punjab Assembly in 2018.
However, ahead of the election, a Pakistani anti-corruption court convicted Nawaz Sharif and his family for the Panama Papers scandal (2016). This was the outcome of three corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years and Maryam to seven years of imprisonment on charges of being “instrumental in concealment of the properties of her father”, subsequently disqualifying her and her father from contesting election for ten years.
After being released on bail later that year, Maryam’s career in politics took a new turn as she tried to fill the leadership vacuum during the four years of her father’s self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. She was appointed as PML-N’s vice president in 2019, and throughout the newly elected PTI-led government rule, heavily spoke of the legacy of her father and the life spent in exile following the 1999 military coup which ousted Nawaz Sharif; blamed the government and Imran Khan, then prime minister, for the country’s economic woes; organised anti-government rallies and heavily criticised the judiciary and the military for ousting her father, claiming the corruption charges slapped against the Sharif family to be ‘politically motivated’.
However, with the change in political dynamics which brought the same fate to Imran Khan, as it earlier did to Nawaz Sharif, and the subsequent establishment of a new coalition government (Pakistan Democratic Movement) of PPP and PML-N in 2022 under Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother’s premiership Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz’s political presence took a backseat. During the coalition rule, Maryam was acquitted of her corruption case. Last year, her position in the party rank was elevated as senior vice president and chief organiser, making Maryam a chosen successor and PML-N’s most senior leader. She has resumed her political activities with a new vigour presence since Nawaz Sharif’s return from exile. She is also contesting in the upcoming general elections for National Assembly.
Maryam Nawaz’s political career is significant for PML-N. There is growing resentment against her due to her hi-profile presence on social media. She was seen instructing cabinet ministers to do their jobs. Her posts about the need for PML-N to wholeheartedly accept its defeat in the by-election brought disgruntlement among the party’s senior leaders. This also exposed the internal divide within the party, among the two Sharif brothers—Nawaz and Shehbaz and the two cousins—Maryam and Hamza. Hamza Sharif, son of Shehbaz Sharif, whose political career started much earlier than Maryam’s and who has emulated his uncle Nawaz Sharif for years, failed to attain the prominence Maryam could get in the short span of time. She emerged as a young woman leader in a field dominated by men. She also came to be recognised as the chosen successor to lead PML-N in future.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son on Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, and grandson of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — the founder of PPP and technically the country’s first prime minister of an elected civilian government who was executed in 1979. Bilawal assumed the chairmanship of PPP three days after his mother Benezir Bhutto was assassinated during an election campaign in 2007. At just 19 years old, Bilawal reached the top political echelon who otherwise did not have any political presence in Pakistan. However, following his chairmanship, Bilawal continued to keep a low profile in politics to finish his degree at Oxford University, like his mother, until his return to Pakistan in 2010. Bilawal’s father Asif Ali Zardari kept PPP in power as the party’s co-chair, following Benezir’s assassination, serving a full term as prime minister, a first in the country’s history, following the 2008 general election.
After the PPP’s victory in the 2008 election, Bilawal gave his first press conference: “My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.” It is believed that Bilawal’s appointment in PPP was intended to keep alive the Bhutto legacy, considering the family’s significance behind the functioning of the PPP. Bilawal came to be publicly known as Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari after his mother’s assassination, to reflect his family legacy through his identity.
Like Maryam Nawaz, Bilawal, too, accompanied his parents during their time in self-imposed exile following the military coup in 1999. During the 2013 national election campaign, Bilawal rose to prominence, launching the campaign for PPP by invoking his Bhutto legacy and lineage. However, it bore no fruit as PPP failed to secure a majority, due to the widespread discontent over the PPP-led government under Asif Ali Zardari’s premiership. In 2018, Bilawal won his first seat in the National assembly, even though his party did not fare well, securing a third place in the national election. However, under the PPP-PMLN coalition government, Bilawal was made the foreign minister. He failed to deliver and became a laughing stock at global level due to his lack of understanding of international relations and being loud-mouthed.
In his short span of political career, Bilawal has become an embarrassment for both his party and Pakistan. In the upcoming national election, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is running for the post of prime minister. He claims to have a vision to carry forward the legacy of Benazir Bhutto. He calls his mother “the champion of the people.” His 10-point election manifesto reflects his agenda for Pakistan.
Both Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are the new faces of Pakistan’s political dynasts. Both shaped their political career, pushing forward their family legacy continuing to seek popular support to sustain their political career as well as the survival of their dynastic party. It only remains to be seen if the political heirs can play the power game any differently or would they continue to be the puppets of Pakistan military.
The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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