Who will skipper the PPP ship now?

Political analysts have started speculating about the next leader of the Pakistan Peopleís Party (PPP) ñ someone who will replace the late Benazir Bhuttoís lifetime chairpersonship and keep the party intact, united and popular.

Making predictions about the next PPP leadership can be tricky, however, seeing how Benazir Bhutto had forced most of the senior party leaders and close aides of her father to leave the party and form their own factions or even separate parties.

At the same time, she had also filled the most important posts in the party with people who were quite unpopular among the masses. Moreover, her advisors and close aides also lacked support and confidence of lower-ranking party workers and the majority of activists.

Several high-profile PPP leaders and associates of her slain father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, including former prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Sardar Farooq Leghari, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Dr Mubashir Hassan, Aftab Sherpao, Faisal Saleh Hayat, her uncle Sardar Mumtaz Bhutto and even her sister-in-law Ghinva Bhutto had turned against Benazir Bhutto and each of them had formed their own political parties, albeit less popular than the PPP.

Nevertheless, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a spiritual leader cum feudal lord hailing from Sindh who led the party in days of Benazirís self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, is by far the strongest candidate for a possible successor to Ms Bhutto, provided that he manages to secure the confidence and support of her husband and other senior figures in the party.

Fahim is seen as a moderate, liberal and flexible person within the partyís ranks, and enjoys the support of the establishment as well as popularity among other political and religious forces in the country.

Another strong candidate could possibly be renowned lawyer and leader of the lawyersí movement, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, who compelled the government to restore deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan and earned widespread respect not only among PPP supporters, but also the lawyersí community, and all political parties which were struggling for the reinstatement of the top judge.

Unfortunately, Aitzaz Ahsan does not enjoy much support among influential PPP leaders despite being a competent leader. Moreover, some observers believe that he could even quit the party to form his own faction as Benazir Bhutto and the rest of the party did not exactly approve of his role in the lawyersí movement.

According to some political leaders, Benazir Bhuttoís husband Asif Ali Zardari, a person known for his alleged corruption and alleged involvement in the assassination of Murtaza Bhutto, could also be a possible successor to his wife but his chances of running the party were quite grim owing to strong opposition by some party leaders, who believe that he was the person responsible for Ms Bhuttoís miseries.

Unfortunately, all the three children of Benazir Bhutto including her two daughters, Bakhtawar and Asifa, and her son, Bilawal, are too young to take their motherís place right now.

Some political analysts claimed that PPP could not remain united after Benazir Bhuttoís assassination as none of the party leaders had the charisma that could keep the party intact. They claimed that now the PPP could disintegrate into two or more factions due to internal rifts because the force behind the partyís unity was no more there.