The following is excerpted from SC&A's site, where he discusses a recent article about the Bhutto dynasty in Pakistani politics. Siggy has posteda series of scathing articles on Benazir Bhutto (see here, here, here, here, here, and here). Below is the just most recent chapter in the ongoing Bhutto saga.
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Fausta links to the next chapter in the Bhutto soap opera:
The head of the Bhutto tribe, a founding member of the Pakistan Peoples Party, has rejected the appointment of Benazir Bhutto’s husband and son to lead the group and predicted that it will split the party.
Mumtaz Bhutto’s comments threaten to reopen the deep fissures in the family, Pakistan’s foremost political dynasty. The Bhuttos started to fall out after the 1979 execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the nation’s first elected prime minister who turned the Peoples Party into its most potent political force.
The article goes on to note that
Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir’s widower, was unrelated to the Bhuttos, while his son, Bilawal, carried the name Zardari until his mother was assassinated last week, when he took on Bhutto as his middle name.
“The party has come into existence on the name and the sweat and the blood of the Bhutto family,” said Mumtaz, 74, a long-time critic of Benazir who lives on a grand country estate in Mirpur Bhutto, the original family village in Sindh province. “Therefore, the leadership should either have gone to Sanam or Murtaza’s son or daughter.”
One contender might be Fatima Bhutto, daughter of Murtaza Bhutto. There are many who believe that Murtaza Bhutto was murdered on the orders Benazir Bhutto. That tragic event was one of the reasons Benazir Bhutto was forced from office before her term ended.
The Sanity Squad’s interview with Fatima Bhutto can be found here.
In light of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and the subsequent political abyss upon which Pakistan teeters , the interview proved to be prescient. Listeners are offered some real insight into the political quagmire that is Pakistan. Given that nation’s nuclear capability, instability is a danger that cannot be overlooked.
After the Sanity Squad podcast, we wrote A Hero In The Making?, in which we took hard look at a potential political powerhouse. She answered troubling questions head on:
Ms Bhutto answered questions about the current state of affairs in Pakistan and what the future may hold. She discussed the the radical Islamists that have made inroads into Pakistani politics, the legacy of corruption that has plagued Pakistan for decades and the challenges that nation faces.
Ms Bhutto answered questions about the current state of affairs in Pakistan and what the future may hold. She discussed the the radical Islamists that have made inroads into Pakistani politics, the legacy of corruption that has plagued Pakistan for decades and the challenges that nation faces.
Ms Bhutto also addressed some tough questions about her support for Hugo Chavez (she sees the Venezuelan anti poverty and literacy programs as a model for Pakistan). She also recognizes the danger terror poses both inside and outside Pakistan’s borders.
Educated in the US and Great Britain, Fatima Bhutto is an eloquent and passionate advocate about the future of her native Pakistan. Whether or not she can transfer that passion into a plan that will lead her country into a democratic and economically state remains to be seen.
Of course, her ideas alone will not determine Pakistan’s future. That destiny will be determined by the Pakistanis themselves. They will have to recognize reject past failures and embrace real democratic values.
Again, check out The Sanity Squad Podcast to get some insight into the person who may well become the next visible Bhutto in Pakistani politics.
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