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Pakistan Politics: A Family Affair

Posted Feb 13, 08 10:37 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – In Pakistan, candidates are born. As ever, the top up-and-coming politicians are coming from Pakistan’s classic dynasties. The Christian Science Monitor talked with Moonis Elahi, son of Pervez Musharraf’s favored PM candidate, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, son of Shahbaz Sharif and nephew of Nawaz. And of course, there is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of Benazir Bhutto. 

All three are Western-educated political scions hoping to change Pakistan’s corrupt system. “People say, 'This is the way things are done in Pakistan,'” says Elahi, “If I can’t [change] that, there’s no point staying in politics.” Both Elahi, a slick CEO-type, and Sharif, a reluctant populist, are running for legislative seats in the upcoming elections, while Bhutto’s 19-year-old heir is still studying at Oxford.
Source: Christian Science Monitor

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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari poses for the media at Christ Church College in Oxford, England Friday, Jan. 11, 2008. Bhutto Zadari, an undergraduate at Christ Church College who was named as symbolic leader...   (Associated Press)
The new leader of the Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Benazir Bhutto, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in London, Tuesday Jan. 8, 2008. Zardari on Tuesday called for...   (Associated Press)
The new leader of the Pakistan People's Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Benazir Bhutto, speaks during a news conference at a hotel in London, Tuesday Jan. 8, 2008. Zardari on Tuesday called for...   (Associated Press)
Hamza Shahbaz, the nephew of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, speaks to the media after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court in Islamabad, Pakistan on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. Lawyers...   (Associated Press)
Bilawal Zardari, the son of slain Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, is seen during a Quran reading ceremony in Benazir Bhutto's residence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008....   (Associated Press)
Hamza Shahbaz, the nephew of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, left, speaks to the media as a leader of Sharifs party Khawaja Asif, right, looks on after a petition was filed in the Supreme...   (Associated Press)
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