Bilawal Likely to Lead PPP (Bilawal Zardari is Successor of Bhutto- The Zardari Family )

KARACHI: Benazir Bhutto’s son, Bilawal Zardari, is likely to succeed her as the PPP’s chief but he will not be able to lead the PPP immediately because of his education. “Ultimately, Bilawal has to lead the party. But someone else might lead the party for now as ‘guide’,” PPP Deputy Information Secretary Sajjad Bokhari told Daily Times.

It would be little hard for the diehard Bhutto supporters as they would have to digest the migration of PPP chairmanship from Bhutto family to Zardari family, which isnt that much celebrated in PPP and also in Pakistan due to alleged corruption by Asif Ali Zardari (aka 'corruption maestro') . This is going to be more difficult for the PPP, as Bilawal is rookie, and hasnt any idea of Pakistani politics and its intracacies. It would be more complex for him, as bigwigs in the party like Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Sherry Rehman, and not to forget Naheed Khan were hoping to get the top slot. -- The Pakistani Spectator--Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007

Emotionally, for the short run, this decision sounds pertinent, but pragmatically its very much questionable in the long run.

Profile - Bilawal is currently living in in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He graduated from Rashid School for Boys, a school owned by the ruling family of Dubai, providing the highest standards of education to the elite in the country. Bilawal is doing his A-levels after successfully gaining top grades for his GCSEs. He is expected to continue his higher education in the United Kingdom and United States.

INTERVIEW with Asif Ali Zardari charged with various murders including that of Murtaza Bhutto and Alam Baloch

"You pick four or five retired ISI generals and you will come to know who these terrorists are." --Asif Zardari quotes Professor Ghafoor Ahmed who headed the Jamaat-e-Islami once and is their senior leader.

Dumb choice. One, he’s only 19, and two, you think they’d take a hint after two members of the Bhutto family have been killed during their careers in politics.

No one likes nepotism...if they were truly impartial they’d let someone else lead. Especially given the corruption that runs in that family.

He’s only freaking NINETEEN! I turn 19 in 26 days. Can I run the RNC??

PPP is basically a Bhutto family party. Without her bloodline, PPP will simply collapse!!!

NRO has published the following interesting tidbits on this issue...
http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTY4ZWZjN2QxMjllMWNjZmFjOWU5ZjM3YjdkNmUxMWI=

The interview actually focused on Bhutto’s experience as a national leader who is a woman: “In a country like Pakistan or India, when a charismatic leader dies, people are not sure that the traditions he symbolized will continue—there’s a lot of illiteracy and there isn’t the same access to information. So they tend to transfer allegiance from a male leader to a female descendant, in the hope that his policies will be continued. But in Westernized societies, it’s a little different, because people have greater education and greater access to information—they don’t have the same need to be sure of the message of the leader.”

SNIP:

Seven-year-old Mustafa felt very upset when his father told him that Bilawal had fainted. “They should come live with me and my sister so that our mother can take good care of them. She stays awake all night if either one of us is sick, and because she feels sad about Benazir’s death, she will take more care of Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa than of us.”- Karachi’s children offer their moms to Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa

Bilawal, 19, was on holiday in Dubai from his studies at Oxford and was inconsolable, according to a relative. timesonline.co.uk

Sindh government had made a wise decision of calling rangers and especially the army. “Because of it, the city’s condition is much better than the pervious two days. There have been riots but mostly in PPP-dominated areas. “Everyone can see that most areas have returned to normal. The citizens are using private vehicles, while some public transport can also be seen.”dailytimes

Bilawal may only be 19, but the understandable anger that is part of the grief process from the loss of his mother will age him considerably coupled with a plot for revenge.

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