Once Upon A Time …
In Pakistan, there was a beautiful princess who wanted to be queen. Then evil men killed her, either by shooting her or maybe a bomb blast that bonked her head, not sure about that yet. So wise men who only wanted good for her people called on her son, a handsome young prince, to step up to lead his people out of bondage. Well, sort of. Actually, they put dad in charge, but dad … well, just read it yourself. Chicago Trib:
The 19-year-old son of assassinated Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto was named symbolic leader of the country’s largest opposition political party Sunday, extending his family’s dynasty but leaving major questions over its role in the fight for democracy there.
Bhutto’s son, a student at Oxford University who has not lived in his native land since he was 10, changed his name to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday. He will play only a ceremonial role until he graduates from college, leaving his controversial father, Asif Ali Zardari, to run the party until his son is ready.
…
Critics said the decision to keep power in the hands of Bhutto’s family misses an opportunity for the party — which says it represents the will of the common people — to introduce democracy into its own system. Some say the party should have gone outside the family to find potential leaders and welcome new blood from different regions of Pakistan.
There is also the possibility that the decision could end up fracturing the party; many party workers dislike Benazir Bhutto’s husband because of past corruption charges — and because he isn’t a Bhutto.
But some believed it was important to choose Bhutto’s son simply because of his lineage and because it reflected his slain mother’s wishes.
“You take Bhutto away, the Pakistan People’s Party is not there,” said Rafiq Safi, who helped found the party.
There’s a mouthful. ChiTrib notes the torturous political history of Pakistan, ruled by the military for most of its six decades, with the PPP as a principle challenger and champion for democracy, while also serving as the vehicle of a cult of familial personality, from hanged father to assassinated daughter, now to young son, with shady dad in the wings.
Bhutto and her party were widely seen as one of the only unifying forces among the country’s four disparate provinces. She was from southern Sindh, a poor province always claiming short shrift from the central government. She had support in Baluchistan province, where nationalist separatists have been fighting the army near the border with Afghanistan, and in neighboring North-West Frontier province, although hard-line Islamists hated her. Even in Punjab province, Pakistan’s largest and richest, she won votes.
On Friday, at Bhutto’s funeral in Sindh province, many supporters chanted, “We don’t want Pakistan.”
“I see no more Pakistan with the same map,” said Zulfiqar Ali Mirza, who had known Bhutto since childhood. “She was the only one to unite the four provinces.”
It’s unclear whether any leader in Pakistan now has nationwide appeal.
Asif Ali Zardari, 51, probably does not. When Bhutto agreed to an arranged marriage with him, many people worried that she was marrying beneath herself — a party guy from a non-elite family. But he quickly became a key political adviser, and some Pakistanis blame the corruption charges that later tainted Bhutto on her husband’s influence.
Zardari spent 11 years in prison on corruption and murder charges without being convicted — but family members insist the charges were politically motivated, just like the corruption charges against his wife.
Bhutto Zardari should have more sympathy in the country. At the news conference, he appeared shellshocked and upset. Only hours after reading his mother’s will to party leaders, he stared down at dozens of television microphones and let others do the talking.
But the first question was for him. The teenager, speaking English in an accent vaguely like his mother’s, said he did not know how long his father could lead.
“When I return, I promise to lead the party as my mother wanted me to,” he said softly.
He then said he would give the party renewed vigor. “My mother always said democracy is the best revenge,” he said. Party workers shouted, “Bilawal move forward, we are with you!”
I’m not sure I like the sound of this fairytale. Sounds a lot like the blood and the curse and the evil over the land plot lines have not entirely played themselves out. This is not just a fairytale in some benighted fantasy land, of course. This is life-and-death politics affecting 160 million people in a nuclear-armed country that lacks full control of its territory, faces a serious challenge from Islamic terrorists, and may be in the process of pulling itself apart.
But seeing as we’re well into this strange and horrible fairytale of murderous plots, pretenders and princes, here’s the prophecy:
His mother knew her son could be filled with surprises. He was born five weeks prematurely, foiling the military ruler’s plan to schedule elections near the birth so Bhutto would be out of commission. “The most celebrated and politically controversial baby in the history of Pakistan had been born,” Bhutto wrote in her autobiography, “Daughter of the East.”
Newspaper cartoons had a different take: “The baby that fooled the president.”
That’s enough for now. This is a very long book and we don’t get to find out yet whether anyone lives happily ever after.
Prior:
It’s Not The Effup, its the coverup, stupid.
Pak It Up, prior election/emergency background and context re Bhutto, Musharraf etal.
Topics: Pakistan
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:42 am on Monday, December 31, 2007
4 Responses to “Once Upon A Time …”
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December 31st, 2007 at 9:45 am
[...] of being careful, she wanted to become Pakistan’s queen, so to speak. Now that she’s dead, her family seems to continue on the path of dynasty: they [...]
December 31st, 2007 at 10:28 am
Well, they can paint a target on the 19 year old’s back who just lost his mother a few days ago and was forced to confront a bank of microphones.
Who hasn’t lived in Pakistan in almost a decade.
The behind the scenes post mortem political machinations must have been furious.
Benazir Bhutto was buried the day after she died, which seemed oddly rushed, but perhaps is part of Muslim law. While “how she died” will be the stuff of relentless and tedious legend, since reportedly, “the husband” refused to allow an autopsy.
December 31st, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I see nothing but bad things happening in that corner of the world for some time to come. It’s scary.
December 31st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I agree, Rebecca. What is happening is scary, not just in Pakistan, but also in Afghanistan. Michael Yon has a new piece on this. Sorry. No link. But he’s easy to find.
Jules, you summarized it beautifully, as always.