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PPP hedges its bets on candidate for PM

Supporters of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto visit the spot where she was assassinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Tuesday. Pakistan goes to the polls for parliamentary elections on Feb. 18. PHOTO: AP

The party of assassinated Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto said yesterday it has not decided whether her husband will be its candidate for prime minister after parliamentary elections this month.

Bhutto named her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, to succeed her as leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). But party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said it was "premature" to say whether Zardari would be nominated for prime minister when the new parliament convenes.

"That decision will be taken after the elections" on Feb. 18, Babar said.

Bhutto, a former prime minister, was assassinated Dec. 27 in a bomb and gun attack after she left an election rally in Rawalpindi.

In a handwritten letter dated Oct. 16 -- two days before her return to Pakistan from exile -- Bhutto endorsed Zardari as the next head of the PPP, the country's largest opposition group.

Zardari, who won the support of top aides in the party, has named his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as a co-chairman of the party.

But the 19-year-old student at Oxford University plans to stay away from politics until he completes his education.

Zardari is a divisive figure in Pakistan. He acquired the nickname "Mr. 10 percent'' during Bhutto's two governments, in which he served as a Cabinet minister, for alleged corruption.

Both Bhutto and Zardari denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

In the letter, Bhutto recommended that Zardari lead the party "because he is a man of courage and honor ... he has the political stature to keep our party united.''

The elections are going ahead despite concerns about the security of voters and candidates and accusations from Bhutto's party that the military-dominated establishment will rig the vote to ensure his survival.

The elections are meant to usher in democracy after eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf. But if the opposition gets a two-thirds majority in the legislature, it could impeach him.

Meanwhile, British detectives will give their first report to the Pakistani government this week on their findings in Bhutto's murder, the interior ministry said yesterday.

A team of forensic and explosive experts from Scotland Yard spent more than two weeks in the country after Musharraf sought British help following Bhutto's death.
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