Click to play videoFaislabad: According to the latest opinion polls, the PPP will emerge as the single largest party in Pakistan, but to win comfortably Asif Ali Zardari must also capture a sizeable number of seats from Nawaz Sharif's PML-N and the Pro-Musharraf PML-Q.
The entire PPP top brass is out in Faislabad - but the crowds, the cutouts and all the cheering is for the one leader who is no longer with them.
And as he steps up to speak to the audience in Punjab, Zardari makes a very specific pitch to the state.
Zardari says, “When I was in Punjab jails I got the best treatment ever."
The PPP has on its side what seems like a massive sympathy vote.
“This election is not for Zardari, it's for Benazir. We haven't forgotten Zulfiqar Bhutto in all these years - it's unlikely we will ever forget Benazir, “one of the PPP supporter says.
Many also point out that despite a few large rallies like the one at Faislabad attended by tens of thousands, in general the public isn't enthused by an election where neither of the main characters are in the running.
Sensing the mood both Zardari and Sharif have made a pact to form a coalition government if each falls short of a majority in the 272 national assembly seats.
And speaking to CNN-IBN Zardari made it clear he isn't a prime ministerial candidate - at least not for these elections, especially if they throw up no clear winner.
Given the difficulties with this campaign and the new found camaraderie between once arch rivals the PPP and the PML-N it seems the leadership of both parties, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari is now looking to not the February 18 general elections, but the next general elections that seem bound to follow in Pakistan.
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