Bhutto the enigma
Dec. 29th, 2012 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterHer death caused a political crisis that still echoes today in Pakistani politics. Five years ago Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack, and even after all that time the truth about her assassination remains a mystery.
The perpetrators remain unknown. But there are countless conspiracy theories about the motives and factors behind the demise of Pakistan's most popular politician. She died after an election campaign event in Rawalpindi, and her assassination left a power vacuum in her country that remains gaping to this day, with no one to fill it.
Not a single investigation commission managed to discover the real motives behind the act. And the ruling People's Party is often accused that they are not committed enough in uncovering the circumstances around the death of their own leader.
She was the first (and so far, the only) female prime minister in Pakistani history. She was directly involved with the local political elite. Her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a prominent president and prime minister in the 70s, and one of the most famous politicians in the country, before he was killed during the military coup of Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq.
With her sharp criticism against the military regime, Benazir Bhutto gained broad public support. No one else in Pakistan had enjoyed such trust by the international community before her time. Her personal charisma and her fight against the military junta, and the fact that she was the daughter of a national martyr, granted her remarkable election victories.
However, both her terms in office (1988-1990 and 1993-1996) were marked by scandals, due to accusations of corruption. She was eventually forced to go into exile in Dubai. Almost a decade later, when the new Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf issued a decree of national reconciliation, granting amnesty to all politicians and former rulers who had been charged with corruption, this opened the door for a Bhutto return to executive power.
But her assassination abruptly changed the political situation in Pakistan. Carried by the emotions and sympathies among the people, the party of the late Benazir easily won the elections, and her husband Asif Ali Zardari became the new president.
No doubt, her death had several significant consequences for Pakistan. People realised that extremism is a real threat to their society, and democracy has to be protected at any cost. Meanwhile, the People's Party has been suffering from a chronic leadership crisis ever since. For the time being it is being run by two people of Benazir's family - her husband Asif and her son Bilawal. But both have been unsuccessful in walking out of the shadow of the most influential woman in the modern history of Pakistan - even five years after her end.
And they urgently have to gather themselves and tackle some of the toughest problems their country has faced in a while. Like the ever present threat of the Taliban in the Western Provinces; the rising geopolitical, economic and military power of India; and the uneasy relations with the US in the wake of Bin Laden's death and the revelation that he had been hiding in Pakistan for years, right under the nose of the local intelligence services.
The perpetrators remain unknown. But there are countless conspiracy theories about the motives and factors behind the demise of Pakistan's most popular politician. She died after an election campaign event in Rawalpindi, and her assassination left a power vacuum in her country that remains gaping to this day, with no one to fill it.
Not a single investigation commission managed to discover the real motives behind the act. And the ruling People's Party is often accused that they are not committed enough in uncovering the circumstances around the death of their own leader.
She was the first (and so far, the only) female prime minister in Pakistani history. She was directly involved with the local political elite. Her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was a prominent president and prime minister in the 70s, and one of the most famous politicians in the country, before he was killed during the military coup of Gen. Muhammad Zia ul-Haq.
With her sharp criticism against the military regime, Benazir Bhutto gained broad public support. No one else in Pakistan had enjoyed such trust by the international community before her time. Her personal charisma and her fight against the military junta, and the fact that she was the daughter of a national martyr, granted her remarkable election victories.
However, both her terms in office (1988-1990 and 1993-1996) were marked by scandals, due to accusations of corruption. She was eventually forced to go into exile in Dubai. Almost a decade later, when the new Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf issued a decree of national reconciliation, granting amnesty to all politicians and former rulers who had been charged with corruption, this opened the door for a Bhutto return to executive power.
But her assassination abruptly changed the political situation in Pakistan. Carried by the emotions and sympathies among the people, the party of the late Benazir easily won the elections, and her husband Asif Ali Zardari became the new president.
No doubt, her death had several significant consequences for Pakistan. People realised that extremism is a real threat to their society, and democracy has to be protected at any cost. Meanwhile, the People's Party has been suffering from a chronic leadership crisis ever since. For the time being it is being run by two people of Benazir's family - her husband Asif and her son Bilawal. But both have been unsuccessful in walking out of the shadow of the most influential woman in the modern history of Pakistan - even five years after her end.
And they urgently have to gather themselves and tackle some of the toughest problems their country has faced in a while. Like the ever present threat of the Taliban in the Western Provinces; the rising geopolitical, economic and military power of India; and the uneasy relations with the US in the wake of Bin Laden's death and the revelation that he had been hiding in Pakistan for years, right under the nose of the local intelligence services.
