The Pakistan People's Party after Benazir Bhutto

After the assassination of its leader and chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, on 27 December, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) decided to pass the chairmanship on to her 19-year-old son, Bilawal. Initially, he will be only a figurehead as he has to complete his final two years at Oxford University before he can run the party. As this drawn-out succession takes place - it will take Bilawal years to build a strong relationship with the party's rank-and-file - his father, Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, will manage the party as co-chairman.

Given the almost royal standing of the Bhutto name within the PPP, Bilawal's succession is hardly surprising. 'Bhuttoism' has become an official party term and doctrine included in the party's manifesto, and bequeathing leadership to that family's next generation seemed the most realistic and expedient arrangement. Furthermore, in designating Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a Sindhi landowner like Bhutto, as the prime ministerial candidate, rather than a Punjabi, the party has retained its appeal not only among Sindhi groups, but also among other minority groups such as Balochis. These groups felt that with Bhutto's death they were losing their voice on the national stage, especially given that their relationship with the majority Punjabis, who dominate the civil-military establishment, has further deteriorated under President Pervez Musharraf. Fahim will look to maintain the strong ties that Benazir had cultivated, and the party's non-Punjabi image. Nevertheless, the party faces a leadership vacuum and a longer-term identity crisis that this succession may do more to aggravate than to resolve.

The first problem is Zardari. While he will attract the sympathy vote initially, he remains a distrusted, and in some quarters a hated, figure in the PPP. Once nicknamed "Mr. Ten Percent" for his alleged role in taking kickbacks on government contracts (he denied and still denies all allegations against him), he could become a hindrance to building strong relations between the party base and the leadership. Those who value Zardari's political skills within the PPP prefer him to remain behind the scenes. However, with his role now enhanced in the wake of his wife's assassination, Zardari will be at the forefront and is likely to try to make the PPP his party.

Image: Bilawal Bhutto (bilawalbhutto.pk) 367 of 1,457 words