Nineteen-year-old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has become the titular leader of the Pakistan People’s Party but his position may become worthless if opponents of his father and co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, opt out.
Though there has been no announcement of a formal split, politicians on the ground fear that a sizable and vocal anti-Zardari contingent may not accept Zardari’s leadership, despite his use of the Bhutto name to keep detractors loyal to the party.
“He’s the dauphin,” said an unnamed US State Department official in today’s New York Times.
Zardari, called “Mr. Ten Percent” in reference to kickbacks he received from government projects overseen during Benazir Bhutto’s first term as prime minister, has assumed day-to-day leadership of the party while his son finishes college at Oxford University. For the foreseeable future, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, will fulfill a ceremonial role in the party
“He may be our chairman,” Zardari said in an interview Sunday as he cut his son off in mid sentence. “But he is my son and he is of tender age.”
Zardari’s critics have questioned his interest in politics given his role as a “middle man” in his wife’s cabinet.
“In the past he was not the least interested in governance, but in deals,” said political analyst Talat Massoud, former Defense Secretary in Benzair Bhutto’s first administration.
Pakistani politics may only be the latest deal for Zardari but he now has one tool that not even Musharraf can counter — a living Bhutto.
“In this country, symbols matter,” Zardari said.
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
