Bhutto's son, husband to succeed her

[rodeodance]

Source: ap


Bhutto's son, husband to succeed her

By ZARAR KHAN, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago

NAUDERO, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son was chosen Sunday to succeed her as chairman of her opposition party, while her husband will serve as co-chairman, extending Pakistan's most famous political dynasty to a third generation, party officials said.


The party also decided to contest upcoming elections, apparently ending the threat of a wholesale boycott by Pakistan's political opposition as the key U.S.-ally struggles to transition to democracy after years of military rule.

The decisions were made at a closed meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party central executive committee, three days after the two-time prime minister was assassinated in a suicide attack, two party officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the information.

It catapults Bilawal Zardari, an Oxford University student with no political experience, to the center of Pakistan's tumultuous public life. Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari, 51, is powerbroker in the party who served as environment minister in her second government.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071230/ap_on_re_as/pakistan;_ylt=AnLpRykvFmq5OQ1ImeTXH3.s0NUE

[IDemo]

1. Not necessarily

Her son does not want the job and is "keen to return to his studies", according to one of Benazir Bhutto's close aides. Whether he accepts the position is up to him and remains to be seen.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2555683&mesg_id=2555683

[midlife_mo_Jo]

3. I heard someone from her country speak

on tv, and he said that she came to power because of her father's fame and asassination. However, he also claimed that she married into a corrupt family and that she ran a rather corrupt administration. He was obviously opposed to her, so I don't know how much credence to put in his comments. (I don't think he is part of the current administration.)

Anyone know more about this?

[dysfunctional press]

7. at 19, i'm sure that he would prefer to live a while longer.

just guessin'..

[geiger]

8. but the pressure will be on; I tho't this within seconds of his mother being gone

how awful for him personally. She should have never gone back herself, but thought she could make a difference. Now, that the terrorists have shot her down, like an animal that they are, and in the context of a miserable and inept American international strategy, what hope is there. I wouldn't do it if I were him. But won't he be driven to honor the memory of his mother, like she was for her father, and for the sake of her country and the world.

The developments in Pakistan over the past several days disturb me deeply.

[rasputin1952]

2. I have to wonder where this will lead...

No one really knows what these two are about...:shrug:

I can see why the son is there, for bloodline purposes, but the real power will most likely be w/Zardari.

I get the distinct impression this may not go over too well, we'll see.

[ohio2007]

15. Shady Reputation Trails Bhutto's Husband

Nobody really wants to go there.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071230/D8TRUTVO0.html

Whats behind door # 3?

[rasputin1952]

16. Problem is...

There is no Door #3...No Plan C...nothing...only Musharaff...:(

[dipsydoodle]

4. I'm sure they were/are both equally corrupt.

A 1998 New York Times investigative report<12> indicates that Pakistani investigators have documents that uncover a network of bank accounts, all linked to the family's lawyer in Switzerland, with Asif Zardari as the principal shareholder. According to the article, documents released by the French authorities indicated that Zardari offered exclusive rights to Dassault, a French aircraft manufacturer, to replace the air force's fighter jets in exchange for a 5% commission to be paid to a Swiss corporation controlled by Zardari. The article also said a Dubai company received an exclusive license to import gold into Pakistan for which Asif Zardari received payments of more than $10M into his Dubai-based Citibank accounts. The owner of the company denied that he had made payments to Zardari and claims the documents were forged.

Bhutto maintained that the charges leveled against her and her husband were purely political.<13><14> "Most of those documents are fabricated," she said, "and the stories that have been spun around them are absolutely wrong." An Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) report supports Bhutto's claim. It presents information suggesting that Benazir Bhutto was ousted from power in 1990 as a result of a witch hunt approved by then-president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The AGP report says Khan illegally paid legal advisers 28 million Rupees to file 19 corruption cases against Bhutto and her husband in 1990-92.<15>

The assets held by Bhutto and her husband have been scrutinized. The prosecutors have alleged that their Swiss bank accounts contain £740 million.<16> Zardari also bought a neo-Tudor mansion and estate worth over £4 million in Surrey, England, UK.<17><18> The Pakistani investigations have tied other overseas properties to Zardari's family. These include a $2.5 million manor in Normandy owned by Zardari's parents, who had modest assets at the time of his marriage.<12> Bhutto denied holding substantive overseas assets.

Bhutto and her husband until recently continued to face wide-ranging charges of official corruption in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars of "commissions" on government contracts and tenders. But because of a power-sharing deal brokered in October 2007 between Bhutto and Musharraf, she and her husband had been granted amnesty.<16> If it stood, this development could have triggered a number of Swiss banks to "unlock" accounts that were frozen in the late 1990s.<12><16> The executive order could in principle have been challenged by the judiciary, although the judiciary's future was uncertain due to the same developments. However, the death of Bhutto has now prevented any such accounts from being unlocked, and it is now up to the discretion of the Swiss banks as to where the funds ought to be placed.

http://webworks.typepad.com/corruption_in_iraq/2007/12/overview-of-pri.html

[susu369]

5. Interesting - the state of their marriage

Pakistani journalist Mariana Babar, who is said to be friendly with Bhutto, quoted many sources in her article in Outlook, saying that the "romantic Bhutto-Zardari saga" was over.
Babar says Bhutto is, however, "too conservative" to go for a divorce and will keep up the façade of a marriage for the public.
"There are, however, incontrovertible signs of their marriage being on the rocks if not totally kaput. For one, Benazir lives in Dubai, Zardari in a New York apartment with his dogs," the magazine report said.
Outlook also printed an article by Bhutto titled 'Asif and I' in which Benazir wrote: "In the end, personal life is sacrificed on the altar of political commitment. This is because the public is the political family. To succeed and reach the top, most families, irrespective of gender, whether in politics or other professions, have to go the extra mile, consequently sacrificing personal interests to the larger cause."
Babar maintains: "The fizz has gone out of the love story, Benazir and Zardari don't live together, their marriage is an empty shell, a partnership of pretences, a form they must maintain because Pakistan, like much of South Asia, can't accept a woman politician divorced from her husband. You could say it's a separation that's still dressed as marriage."

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=129974&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23

I do not trust Zardari. My distrust is based mostly on what a close friend, who is Pakistani, told me years ago. Of course, his claims that Zardari is corrupt is widely known.

[Myrina]

6. ... sounds like Bill and Hill ...

" ... will keep up the façade of a marriage for the public ... their marriage is an empty shell, a partnership of pretences, a form they must maintain because (Pakistan, like much of South Asia) can't accept a woman politician divorced from her husband ..."

[Sultana]

9. Interesting...

Zardari sounds like is a snake.

[Garbo 2004]

11. It reportedly was an arranged marriage to begin with, not a love match. n/t

[susu369]

12. Yes

arranged by Benazir's mother. Of course, that is not unusual in Pakistan.

[Sultana]

10. Poor boy

I hope he doesn't let the pressure to succeed his mother overtake him.

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. Two and a half cheers for democracy...

:eyes:

[ohio2007]

14. Her blue blood son wants to remain in Oxford...He doesn't even speak the local language of the

people he is supposed to rule over.
At best he would be Musharrafs poodle. Worst is....
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071230/D8TS1LDO1.html
well.....Did I mention he wants to remain in school ?



Bhutto tried to hire U.S. security guards
NEW YORK — Benazir Bhutto was so fearful for her life that she tried to hire British and American security firms, including Blackwater, to protect her, but Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf refused to allow the foreign contractors to operate in Pakistan, her aides said.



http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071230/FOREIGN/542639205/1003

nothing to see here