The government is no doubt surprised by the fact that Bhutto's party is going to contest the elections. This forced Sharif's party to reverse its decision to boycott the elections. Musharraf no doubt will delay the elections for some time to try and cool the anger against him and also to make arrangements to rig the results if he can make appropriate deals or even if he can't!
The move to make the son the symbolic head of the party was clever in that Bhutto's husband's reputation for corruption is legendary. The son cannot run for office until 25!
I am a bit mystified by all the fuss over exactly how Bhutto died. What possible value the government could gain from saying she died from hitting her head as against a bullet wound is not clear to me. Certainly the government has not denied that she was shot at and that there was a suicide blast. What on earth difference does it make if these events in themselves were not the immediate cause of her death. If they had not happened she would not have banged her head cracking open her skull. There is just so much manipulation and corruption in Musharraf's govt. that everything is questioned even if the government has nothing to gain by lying.
Pakistan to delay elections
Monday, December 31, 2007
ISLAMABAD: Elections in Pakistan appear likely to be delayed by several weeks, despite demands by the party of the slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and other politicians that they take place as scheduled on Jan. 8, officials said Monday.
The Election Commission said that it had recommended an unspecified delay in the parliamentary polls following the unrest that was triggered by the assassination of Bhutto last week. It said its final decision would be made Tuesday.
Separately, a senior government official predicted that the elections would be postponed by "six weeks or so, as the environment to hold free and fair elections is not conducive." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information.
Despite being in mourning, Bhutto's political party and that of Pakistan's other major opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, want the polls held on time, perhaps sensing that major electoral gains are possible amid sympathy over Bhutto's death and a widespread belief that political allies of President Pervez Musharraf were behind the killing. Sharif's party reversed an earlier decision to boycott the election.
On Sunday, Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party named her 19-year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as its symbolic leader and left day-to-day control to her husband, Asif Ali Zardari. The announcement was made at a chaotic news conference at the family's ancestral home in Naudero, in southern Pakistan.
The decision to place the burden of blood and history on Bhutto's first-born son, an Oxford undergraduate with no political experience, reflects not only an abiding dynastic streak in South Asian politics - three generations of the Nehru-Gandhi family have dominated politics in India, and hereditary politics pervade Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as well - but also how much the Pakistan People's Party relies on the Bhutto family name and legacy to bind its supporters.
In keeping with his new mantle, the new chairman added his mother's maiden name to his, becoming the newly anointed Bhutto scion. "My mother always said democracy is the best revenge," he said in a brief address.
The elder Zardari said he would manage the chairmanship on his son's behalf until he finishes his university degree - a minimum of three years. The father instructed reporters not to ask his son any further questions, saying he was "of a tender age."
Later, in the backyard of the family's house, Bhutto Zardari said in an interview that he had been tutored by his mother to play a role in Pakistani politics. "There was always a sense of fear I wouldn't be able to live up to her expectations," he said. "I hope I will."
Asked about his most immediate challenge, he said, "First, to finish my degree."
That would appear to rule out any possibility that Bhutto Zardari could become the new leader of Pakistan before he is significantly older. Nonetheless, the elder Zardari said in an interview, "As her son, he will become a uniting force."
Senior party officials said Bhutto Zardari would be a far less controversial titular head than his father, who had been accused of a raft of corruption charges, jailed for a total of 11 years and blamed in some quarters for some of Bhutto's political woes.
It could not be a more difficult time for the party. Bhutto had held together a large and diverse organization, and even if, on the back of public grief, it were to win the coming elections, it would be likely to be under great pressure to bring a semblance of stability to a nation racked by a wave of extremist violence.
At the news conference, the elder Zardari said he would not run in the election and therefore would not be the party's prime ministerial candidate. That job, he said, would probably go to the party vice president, the veteran party leader Makhdoom Amin Fahim, but that was a decision, he added, that would have to be made by party leaders.
Bhutto was killed in a suicide bomb and gun attack Thursday, but disagreements between her supporters and the government over the precise cause of death are undermining confidence in Musharraf and adding to calls for an international investigation.
New video footage, obtained by Britain's Channel 4, shows a man firing a handgun at Bhutto from close range as she stands in an open-topped vehicle. Her hair and shawl then move upward, suggesting she may have been shot. She then falls into the vehicle just before an explosion rocks the car.
The government has insisted that Bhutto was not hit by any of the bullets, and that she died after the force of the blast slammed her head against the sunroof. Bhutto's family and supporters say she died from gunshot wounds to her head and neck.
Zardari confirmed Sunday that he had refused a request to perform an autopsy, saying he did not trust the government of Musharraf to carry out a credible investigation. This means that short of exhuming her body - something her supporters have already ruled out - the cause of her death will be difficult to establish.
Zardari urged the United Nations to establish a committee like the one investigating the 2005 assassination of the former prime minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri. Several leading U.S. politicians have made similar calls.
Musharraf agreed to consider international support for the investigation when he spoke by phone Sunday with Gordon Brown, the British prime minister's office said. But Rashid Qureshi, a spokesman for the Pakistani president, said Monday that Musharraf had made no such promises.
Copyright © 2007 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
Showing posts with label Benazir Bhutto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benazir Bhutto. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Bhutto lobbied with US
This is just a bit of a much longer and fascinating article about Bhutto's career in the New York Times. Although Bhutto grew up in wealth and splendor her party stood for the needs of the poor and oppressed. However, once she got in power she seemed unable for the most part to do that much for her constituency while together with her husband she managed to do a lot for her own financial well-being. She had good ties with quite a few important Americans that helped her cause in Washington.
"Like other foreign leaders, Ms. Bhutto engaged a public relations firm to arrange meetings for her with administration officials, members of Congress and journalists. For the first six months of 2007, the firm Burson-Marsteller took in fees of close to $250,000 for work on behalf of Ms. Bhutto."
"Like other foreign leaders, Ms. Bhutto engaged a public relations firm to arrange meetings for her with administration officials, members of Congress and journalists. For the first six months of 2007, the firm Burson-Marsteller took in fees of close to $250,000 for work on behalf of Ms. Bhutto."
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Tariq Ali: Bhutto, Daughter of the West
Tariq Ali has a long article on Bhutto called "Daughter of the West". See this site. The article is quite long but very interesting. A quite different picture emerges of Bhutto from that usually given in the western press although Ali is sympathetic to Bhutto's party's aims. Corruption within the party was rampant during Bhutto's terms as leader of Pakistan. Here is a short quote:
"By the time she was re-elected in 1993, she had abandoned all idea of reform, but that she was in a hurry to do something became clear when she appointed her husband minister for investment, making him responsible for all investment offers from home and abroad. It is widely alleged that the couple accumulated $1.5 billion. The high command of the Pakistan People’s Party now became a machine for making money, but without any trickle-down mechanism. This period marked the complete degeneration of the party. All that shame-faced party members could say, when I asked, was that ‘everybody does it all over the world,’ thus accepting that the cash nexus was now all that mattered. In foreign policy her legacy was mixed. She refused to sanction an anti-Indian military adventure in Kargil on the Himalayan slopes, but to make up for it, as I wrote in the LRB (15 April 1999), her government backed the Taliban takeover in Kabul – which makes it doubly ironic that Washington and London should be promoting her as a champion of democracy."
Of course once Bhutto needed the aid of the US to get back in power she changed her tune on the Taliban and was gung-ho to tackle the radical Islamists in the territories a position that won her a lot of cheerleaders in the US and its allies.
"By the time she was re-elected in 1993, she had abandoned all idea of reform, but that she was in a hurry to do something became clear when she appointed her husband minister for investment, making him responsible for all investment offers from home and abroad. It is widely alleged that the couple accumulated $1.5 billion. The high command of the Pakistan People’s Party now became a machine for making money, but without any trickle-down mechanism. This period marked the complete degeneration of the party. All that shame-faced party members could say, when I asked, was that ‘everybody does it all over the world,’ thus accepting that the cash nexus was now all that mattered. In foreign policy her legacy was mixed. She refused to sanction an anti-Indian military adventure in Kargil on the Himalayan slopes, but to make up for it, as I wrote in the LRB (15 April 1999), her government backed the Taliban takeover in Kabul – which makes it doubly ironic that Washington and London should be promoting her as a champion of democracy."
Of course once Bhutto needed the aid of the US to get back in power she changed her tune on the Taliban and was gung-ho to tackle the radical Islamists in the territories a position that won her a lot of cheerleaders in the US and its allies.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Why Does CBC have so much coverage of Benazir Bhutto
The US and probably the UK are plotting regime change in Pakistan in order to get more action either by Pakistan or US forces against the tribal areas. Perhaps it is just coincidence that the BBC is giving extensive coverage to Bhutto with interviews and a documentary. There have been no embarassing questions or even mention of the events brought up by this article! Of course given the level of corruption in Pakistan this article may not be above reproach either! It is from this site.
Pakistan:
Benazir Bhutto's Unprincipled Politics
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
In the violent turbulence that has engulfed Pakistan for over a year now, the one bright feature was that the nation witnessed the first appreciable stirrings for democracy within the country. Notably, the struggle for restoration of democracy within Pakistan was not spearheaded by Pakistan’s political parties but was generated and led relentlessly by the legal fraternity of Pakistan in the wake of the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan by General Musharraf in March this year.
Pakistan’s legal fraternity despite the violence launched against them by the state apparatus valiantly struggled for restoration of the rule of law and constitutional propriety. It provided a spark for the suppressed feelings of Pakistan’s civil society to clamor for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. In fact this popular upsurge rode piggy-back on the lawyer’s movement who were careful not to allow the political parties to hi-jack their movement and dilute their cause. In the end the legal fraternity prevailed and General Musharraf under pressure from the United States desisted from ignoring the judgment given by Pakistan’s Supreme Court’s Special Judicial Panel, that the case against the Chief Justice had no merit and that he should be re-instated. That has been done since.
In marked contrast to the high moral contours of the movement of Pakistan’s legal fraternity, the leader of Pakistan’s main political party (PPP) led by former twice Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has stabbed in the back the political movement for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Last year, Benazir Bhutto joined hands with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (who was displaced by General Musharraf in the 1999 military cong) to sign a “Charter for Democracy” along with other political leaders. The avowed purpose of this ‘Charter of Democracy’ was to mobilize the people of Pakistan towards restoration of democracy in a united manner. There was also a specific commitment that none of the political leaders signing the “Charter of Democracy” would enter into any negotiations with Pakistan’s military ruler to strike a personal deal.
Sordidly, Benazir Bhutto despite the above commitment has precisely done what was feared all along. It appears now that for the last two years. Benazir Bhutto had been in secret negotiations with General Musharraf, sponsored by the United States using a former senior British diplomat who had served in Pakistan. That the deal is now virtually through is evident from General Musharraf condescending to fly to Dubai for final discussions with Benazir Bhutto who lives in exile there.
Under this deal, General Musharraf has agreed to share power with Benazir Bhutto in that General Musharraf takes over as a civilian President with Benazir Bhutto as the Prime Minister. While such a power sharing arrangement serves the strategic interests of the United States, it is a betrayal by Benazir Bhutto of the ‘democracy movement’ in Pakistan that was picking up steam.
Such an arrangement that this deal has worked out, and the United States and everyone else knows it is unconstitutional, General Musharraf when he gives up his position as Chief of Army Staff is not permitted constitutionally from standing for any office for two years. Further, the present Assemblies are not empowered to re-elect him as President, even minus his uniform.
Benazir Bhutto has a whole long list of corruption causes against her and was liable for arrest on return to Pakistan from exile.. Also as per the existing Constitution, she is not eligible for a third term as Prime Minister.
But then everything is possible in Pakistan when Pakistan Army’s interest and those of the United States are at stake. The corruption cases are being withdrawn, her bank accounts frozen in Pakistan have been consequently de-frozen and the Constitution will be amended to enable her to be Prime Minister for a third time.
While one could not expect much from the Pakistan Army in terms of principled behavior and the United States can excuse itself on the grounds of ‘realpolitik’, Benazir Bhutto has no viable excuses for the betrayal of democracy in Pakistan.
She has emerged as an “accomplice” of the Pakistan Army in thwarting the emergence of democracy in Pakistan. By becoming an “accomplice” of the Pakistan Army, Benazir Bhutto dishonors her father the late Prime Minister Zulfiqar Bhutto who was executed by the Pakistan Army on questionable grounds.
All in all, Benazir Bhutto emerges in this drama as a unprincipled political leader, unworthy of the trust that the people of Pakistan had placed in her as the leader of Pakistan’s leading political party and claiming to be the scion of Pakistan’s prominent political dynasty.
Further, for those who fawn over her in India, let it be reminded that it was Benazir Bhutto who brought Kashmir as an emotional frenzied issue in Pakistan’s electoral politics, it was during her prime ministerial tenures that proxy war and terrorism against India was heightened in Kashmir and it was she again who was instrumental in launching the Taliban which emerged as a scourge in Afghanistan and in Kashmir.
The United States has made a wrong choice in foisting Benazir Bhutto as the Prime Minister of Pakistan or the power alternatively to nominate one of her lackeys as Prime Minister.
Pakistan sadly, is once again set to be in turbulent times generated by unprincipled politics and unprincipled vested interests sacrificing the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
August 4, 2007
Pakistan:
Benazir Bhutto's Unprincipled Politics
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
In the violent turbulence that has engulfed Pakistan for over a year now, the one bright feature was that the nation witnessed the first appreciable stirrings for democracy within the country. Notably, the struggle for restoration of democracy within Pakistan was not spearheaded by Pakistan’s political parties but was generated and led relentlessly by the legal fraternity of Pakistan in the wake of the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan by General Musharraf in March this year.
Pakistan’s legal fraternity despite the violence launched against them by the state apparatus valiantly struggled for restoration of the rule of law and constitutional propriety. It provided a spark for the suppressed feelings of Pakistan’s civil society to clamor for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. In fact this popular upsurge rode piggy-back on the lawyer’s movement who were careful not to allow the political parties to hi-jack their movement and dilute their cause. In the end the legal fraternity prevailed and General Musharraf under pressure from the United States desisted from ignoring the judgment given by Pakistan’s Supreme Court’s Special Judicial Panel, that the case against the Chief Justice had no merit and that he should be re-instated. That has been done since.
In marked contrast to the high moral contours of the movement of Pakistan’s legal fraternity, the leader of Pakistan’s main political party (PPP) led by former twice Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has stabbed in the back the political movement for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Last year, Benazir Bhutto joined hands with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (who was displaced by General Musharraf in the 1999 military cong) to sign a “Charter for Democracy” along with other political leaders. The avowed purpose of this ‘Charter of Democracy’ was to mobilize the people of Pakistan towards restoration of democracy in a united manner. There was also a specific commitment that none of the political leaders signing the “Charter of Democracy” would enter into any negotiations with Pakistan’s military ruler to strike a personal deal.
Sordidly, Benazir Bhutto despite the above commitment has precisely done what was feared all along. It appears now that for the last two years. Benazir Bhutto had been in secret negotiations with General Musharraf, sponsored by the United States using a former senior British diplomat who had served in Pakistan. That the deal is now virtually through is evident from General Musharraf condescending to fly to Dubai for final discussions with Benazir Bhutto who lives in exile there.
Under this deal, General Musharraf has agreed to share power with Benazir Bhutto in that General Musharraf takes over as a civilian President with Benazir Bhutto as the Prime Minister. While such a power sharing arrangement serves the strategic interests of the United States, it is a betrayal by Benazir Bhutto of the ‘democracy movement’ in Pakistan that was picking up steam.
Such an arrangement that this deal has worked out, and the United States and everyone else knows it is unconstitutional, General Musharraf when he gives up his position as Chief of Army Staff is not permitted constitutionally from standing for any office for two years. Further, the present Assemblies are not empowered to re-elect him as President, even minus his uniform.
Benazir Bhutto has a whole long list of corruption causes against her and was liable for arrest on return to Pakistan from exile.. Also as per the existing Constitution, she is not eligible for a third term as Prime Minister.
But then everything is possible in Pakistan when Pakistan Army’s interest and those of the United States are at stake. The corruption cases are being withdrawn, her bank accounts frozen in Pakistan have been consequently de-frozen and the Constitution will be amended to enable her to be Prime Minister for a third time.
While one could not expect much from the Pakistan Army in terms of principled behavior and the United States can excuse itself on the grounds of ‘realpolitik’, Benazir Bhutto has no viable excuses for the betrayal of democracy in Pakistan.
She has emerged as an “accomplice” of the Pakistan Army in thwarting the emergence of democracy in Pakistan. By becoming an “accomplice” of the Pakistan Army, Benazir Bhutto dishonors her father the late Prime Minister Zulfiqar Bhutto who was executed by the Pakistan Army on questionable grounds.
All in all, Benazir Bhutto emerges in this drama as a unprincipled political leader, unworthy of the trust that the people of Pakistan had placed in her as the leader of Pakistan’s leading political party and claiming to be the scion of Pakistan’s prominent political dynasty.
Further, for those who fawn over her in India, let it be reminded that it was Benazir Bhutto who brought Kashmir as an emotional frenzied issue in Pakistan’s electoral politics, it was during her prime ministerial tenures that proxy war and terrorism against India was heightened in Kashmir and it was she again who was instrumental in launching the Taliban which emerged as a scourge in Afghanistan and in Kashmir.
The United States has made a wrong choice in foisting Benazir Bhutto as the Prime Minister of Pakistan or the power alternatively to nominate one of her lackeys as Prime Minister.
Pakistan sadly, is once again set to be in turbulent times generated by unprincipled politics and unprincipled vested interests sacrificing the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan.
August 4, 2007
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