Bilawal Bhutto Zardaris political career has been launched so many times its a wonder he isnt in orbit yet.

He made his debut in difficult circumstances, soon after his mothers assassination, although that didnt stop the snickering during his democracy is the best revenge speech when his hand gestures bore no coordination with his words and his Urdu bore no resemblance to the language itself. After being named co-chairperson of the PPP, Bilawal laid low for a while, like a young Mughal emperor in waiting while Zardari played the role of the regent. Over the next few years there were fitful appearances here and there soft launches if you will but his next big platform came in April 2012 when he delivered a speech to the PPPs Central Executive Committee on the occasion of ZABs 33rd death anniversary. This is where the Bilawal we saw in Karachi last week, the one who used the solemn occasion of the anniversary of the Karsaz attack on Benazir to launch a political attack on his opponents, first emerged. At the time Gilani was being hounded by the Supreme Court and Bilawal took this as opportunity to indulge in rank provincialism. Geographical references were deployed as weapons and, in a reference to Nawaz Sharif, he declared, Shaheed Bhutto of Sindh was hanged but another prime minister from Punjab is freed. That speech, nakedly partisan though it was at a time when solemn remembrance would have been more suitable, didnt draw as much attention as his address at a memorial for the victims of the Karsaz attack. Perhaps he was trying to ape his fiery grandfather, but Bilawals invocation of Buzdil Khan, the man controlling Karachi from London and the bow and arrow which would pierce the lion of Punjab lacked both the humour and style of ZABs best barbs. There were many who pointed out that such political attacks seemed inappropriate but the hostility towards Bilawal far exceeded any perceived breach of etiquette. The political content of his speech has also, as tends to happen when every utterance is analysed to the point of boredom, been overstated. Yes, Bilawal irked most major political parties in the country but that will be speedily forgotten when coalition-forming time comes in 2018. If the Qatil-League could end up in an alliance with Zardari to stay relevant no amount of harsh rhetoric is going to trump power considerations. Why then does Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, scion of a storied dynasty, invoke such passions when his influence has been limited to a few speeches notable only for their flying rhetoric? The most obvious reason is his surname, or his surnames to be precise. You see two contradictory arguments against him. There are those who decry the continuation of dynastic politics and, in the same breath, the assertion that he isnt a true Bhutto, as if genes are only passed on from father to child. The nepotism/dynasty critique would be valid enough, but only in a void. We are a country where democracy and dictatorship have played an endless game of musical chairs. As a consequence we havent had the opportunity to develop a political class that emerges from the grassroots rather than the womb. During every period of military rule, where politicians are maligned and sidelined, there is scant opportunity for credible new

representatives to work. So, when the dictatorship ends, the only people with any kind of political experience have familiar last names. It is certainly a problem but one that is more the fault of the army than the Bhuttos. Bilawals accent has also occasioned much mirth, similar to the jokes made about his mother. In both cases, the odd well-natured jibe is well and good but let us remember why their language skills needed work. In Benazirs case a military dictator had her father executed and then drove her out of the country while Bilawal had to grow up outside Pakistan because one or both of his parents where either jailed or exiled. The blame, to the extent that an accent should be a point of political controversy, once again lies with the men in uniform. It may be necessary to defend Bilawal from these ad hominem attacks but that should not be seen as an endorsement of his political prowess. The complaints against him are frequently silly he is faulted for not being a mature enough politician when, if the state of our seasoned politicians is anything to go by, we should welcome a bit of this supposed immaturity but he will not be defined by his detractors. His ability will only be known once he has actual responsibilities beyond glad-handing supporters and speechifying. The inordinate amount of time he spends in Dubai, with a short visit to the home country here or there is more deserving of criticism. It is true that as a Bhutto he is at greater risk of being targeted by the Taliban, and he has credibly not let that fear silence him on the evil of militancy, but since he has chosen the political life it is incumbent on him to face the danger. The ANP government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did its image no good by having a leader, Asfandyar Khan, who was perceived to be cowering in fear while those lower than him were constantly targeted. Bilawal cannot be an absentee leader in that same vein, not when he is the titular head of a political party. He will also have to rise above the usual PPP problem of being principled and cogent in opposition but ineffectual and meek when in power. But Bilawal cannot be written off before he has even had a chance to compose the first chapter of his story. The writer is a journalist based in Karachi. Email: nadir.hassan@gmail.com