It appears that the envelope containing the name of the next prime minister of Pakistan was found empty. The Pakistan People’s Party went into a marathon session on Thursday at Zardari House in Islamabad to nominate its candidate for the coveted post, but the session ended without an announcement. More consultations are to follow among party members, it was declared to the media, to arrive at a consensus candidate within the next couple of days. The PPP allies are said to be backing Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

The race for the PM’s slot is between those who swear unconditional allegiance to the Bhutto creed and those who prove their mettle humiliating their opponents. The Makhdooms, spiritual leaders albeit in name, may fit in well with the allegiance required of them; but perhaps it takes more than just that.

Many expected the post to go to the old party loyalist, the Makhdoom from Hala. The feudal mindset that the PPP is notorious for has thwarted the will of the people from prevailing. Zardari’s procrastination over Fahim’s nomination displays just that.

Makhdoom belongs to an old PPP loyalist family, the Syeds of Sindh, which endured immense pressure to defect from Gen Zia-ul Haq in the aftermath of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s overthrow in 1977. Consequently the family became the civil-military establishment’s bete noire in later years. Their trials have been many and the Bhuttos have been wary of them. The reason: who’s the bigger feudal?

Fahim’s father, Talibul Maula, as the Makhdoom, was a man of considerable following. Though among the founding members of the PPP in 1967, the elder, late Makhdoom was required to submit completely to Z.A. Bhutto’s will and whims to the point of humiliation. An uneasy relationship followed where the Makhdoom feared for his life if he quit the PPP and stuck around against his own judgment. After Bhutto’s overthrow, however, the tradition of feudal self-respect demanded that the Makhdoom not leave the party at a critical juncture and be seen as siding with non-Sindhis against his own fellow Sindhi.

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