Bhutto’s son takes over as opposition party leader

31.12.2007

THE son of assassinated former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was on Sunday appointed as leader of the opposition party, with her husband as co-chairman, party officials said.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) named Bhutto's son, 19-year-old Bilawal, an Oxford University student, as its chairman after a marathon meeting at the family's ancestral home, three senior party officials told AFP.

The decision came just three days after Bhutto was assassinated, leaving a void at the head of the PPP, the largest political party in the country.

“Bilawal is the new chairman of the party and Asif Ali Zardari will assist him as co-chairman,” one of the officials said. Zardari, 51, is Bhutto's husband.

Bilawal was named in the will left by Bhutto as her successor in the event of her death, the official said. He himself read the contents of the will to the meeting of the party's top brass.

Bhutto's 51-year-old sister, Sanam, who was supported by many PPP members to take over, had refused to accept any responsibility in the party because of her family commitments in London, another of the officials said.

The appointment means the party leadership follows the bloodline for a third generation, some four decades after it was founded by Bilawal's grandfather and former prime minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

As thousands of mourners outside beat their chests in grief before the meeting started, Zardari told them: “Benazir Bhutto sacrificed her life for Pakistan's survival and democracy. We will continue Bhutto's mission.

'The Pakistan People's Party will remain intact as the leading political force in the country,” he said. The crowd chanted slogans against President Pervez Musharraf including 'Curse on Musharraf, Musharraf is a killer!' outside the house in the southern village of Naudero.

But many in the crowd who had massed on the third and final official day of mourning for the 54-year-old Bhutto began chanting for Sanam Bhutto to take the reins of the party, witnesses said. But political analysts have urged caution.

“Bilawal is just 19 years old, he needs to be groomed,” political analyst and retired general, Talat Masood, said. “They should let him complete his education.”

He warned that by opting for a 'dynasty-based' succession, the party risked becoming factionalised. Political commentator, Najam Sethi, said Zardari would “run the show to keep the place warm for his son, Bilawal, just like Congress party leader, Sonia Gandhi, is doing for her young son, Rahul, in India.”

PPP vice president, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, and the party's Punjab province president, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will be on a so-called 'advisory council' for their young leader, party officials said.