Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Stories

17 Stories

March 2008
- Pakistani Parties Spurn Musharraf, Forge Coalition
  
  Reuters | Mar 9, 08 5:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Pakistani opposition parties formed a coalition today that snubbed President Pervez Musharraf. The alliance of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and the late Benazir Bhutto's party will also reinstate the judges deposed by Musharraf last year. Having opposed Musharraf's reelection bid, the judges are also likely to challenge his presidency in court, Reuters reports. More »
- Bhutto's Party Delays PM Decision
  
  Bloomberg | Mar 6, 08 10:31 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's party deferred its choice for PM candidate today, adding greater uncertainty to Pakistan's volatile political landscape, Bloomberg reports. Makhdoom Amin Fahim, the Pakistan People's Party's No. 2 and a longtime Bhutto loyalist, had been expected to take the top job today. But a meeting of the party's newly elected MPs split up without even discussing whom they would nominate. More »
February 2008
- Bhutto Widower Warns of Pakistan Election Backlash
  
  Times (UK) | Feb 17, 08 8:52 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The Pakistani government's suspected plans to disrupt tomorrow's elections will trigger widespread violence and the possible collapse of the nation, warned the widower of assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto. "People are absolutely on the warpath" and will take to the streets if the election is rigged, Asif Ali Zardari told the Times of London. More »
- Pakistan Politics: A Family Affair
  
  Christian Science Monitor | Feb 13, 08 10:37 AM CST
  
  (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. More »
- Bhutto's Party Holds Big Lead in Survey
  
  Press Association | Feb 11, 08 10:16 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People’s Party holds a solid lead going into next week’s elections, according to a poll commissioned by a US organization associated with members of the 9/11 commission. Some 37% of Pakistanis surveyed said they would support the secular PPP, to 12% for Pervez Musharraf’s Muslim party. The party of Nawaz Sharif, the other ex-PM active in the opposition, came in second with 25%. More »
- In Will, Bhutto Taps Husband as Successor
  
  Reuters | Feb 5, 08 1:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's political will, published today, calls for her husband to take control of her party, Reuters reports. "I would like my husband Asif Ali Zardari to lead you in this interim period until you and he decide what is best," says the document. He chose to release Bhutto’s will publicly to address concerns that his leadership is illegitimate. More »
January 2008
- Bhutto's Niece Calls Party Undemocratic
  
  Times (UK) | Jan 12, 08 10:33 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Some call her the real heir to slain Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, but Fatima Bhutto, the ex-PM's estranged niece, rejects her claim to “the family business,” the Times of London reports. In fact, the 25-year-old columnist living in Pakistan called the idea of enshrined Bhutto power “dangerous" and disputed the ascension of cousin Bilawal lead the Pakistan People's Party. More »
- Son Urges UN Probe Into Bhutto's Death
  
  Washington Post | Jan 8, 08 1:34 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son and successor today called for a UN-backed investigation into her assassination, saying he had no faith in the Pakistani government to solve the case, the Washington Post reports. "It is our belief that had she been provided with adequate protection she would be alive today," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in his first press conference since his accession. More »
- Outdated Parade Cover Bares Bhutto's Death Fears
  
  Associated Press | Jan 7, 08 3:03 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - "Is Benazir Bhutto America's best hope against al-Qaeda?" asks the front page of this week's Parade magazine. The issue, which features an interview with the soon-to-be-assassinated Pakistani leader, went to press almost a week before Bhutto was killed. Faced with the choice of running the issue with the outdated cover or pulling this month's magazine altogether, Parade editors decided to go forward. More »
- Facebook Hoaxer Part of Plot to Smear Bilawal: Dad
  
  New York Times | Jan 3, 08 5:41 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Several news editors and internet surfers fell hook, line and sinker for a Facebook hoaxer pretending to be Benazir Bhutto's son and political heir—and an aide for his dad charged that it was part of a smear campaign by the Pakistani government. The fake Facebook site has 19-year-old Bilawal confessing he is "not a born leader" and is a big fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." More »
- Bhutto Uncle Opposes Role for Widower
  
  McClatchy Newspapers | Jan 2, 08 8:30 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto's designation of her widower as interim leader of the Pakistan People's Party has inflamed family and tribal tensions, and renewed past disagreements over her leadership. Patriarch Mumtaz Bhutto, Benazir's 74-year-old uncle, blasted Asif Ali Zardari for having "no political background or acumen" and predicted his leadership would result in the party's "total disintegration," according to McClatchy newspapers. More »
December 2007
- Bhutto's Son Quietly Political at Oxford
  
  Time | Dec 30, 07 7:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Bilawal Bhutto Zardari may be Benazir Bhutto's son, picked today to lead the Pakistan People's Party, but the 19-year-old is also still in school. Bilawal has been studying at Christ Church, Oxford, without security, often hiding his political identity but supporting his mother on his Facebook profile, Time reports. "He is a very sociable student and very well liked," said one of his classmates. More »
- Bhutto Husband & Son Picked to Head Party
  
  Reuters | Dec 30, 07 8:16 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - As violence continued to flare in Pakistan following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, officials indicated that Jan. 8 elections will likely be postponed six to eight weeks, Reuters reports. Officials from Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, meanwhile, picked her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and 19-year-old son, Bilawal, to take over party leadership. More »
- Bhutto's Will Names Son Successor
  
  Newsweek | Dec 29, 07 6:52 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto instructed in her will that her son succeed her as leader of her political party, Newsweek reports. Because her son, Bilawal, is only 19, the will states that her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, act as a regent to him until he is old enough to lead by himself. Neither man, however, will replace Bhutto as the prime minister candidate for the Pakistan People's Party. More »
- Bhuttos Mourn; Son Eyed as Successor
  
  Globe and Mail | Dec 28, 07 12:44 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto was the Pakistan People's Party's "chairperson for life," and her assassination leaves a vacuum in the leadership of the country's largest party. One possible successor, reports the Globe and Mail , is her 19-year-old son Bilawal, who, with his family, attended his mother's burial today. Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, refused to speculate on the leadership, saying, "All I can say is we're devastated." More »
- Bhutto Is Laid to Rest
  
  Times (UK) | Dec 28, 07 8:01 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Benazir Bhutto has been buried alongside her father in her family mausoleum outside the southern city of Naudero. The Times of London reports that hundreds of thousands of mourners lined the streets as the funeral cortege made its way through the town. Her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, and their three teenage children accompanied the coffin, and Zardari called for the government to resign. More »
- Bhutto's Body Flown Home
  
  CNN | Dec 27, 07 7:54 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - The body of Benazir Bhutto was flown to her ancestral homeland in Pakistan Friday as riots in the wake of her assassination claimed the lives of at least nine people. Police reported widespread unrest in Karachi and across the country, CNN reports. TV footage showed Bhutto supporters torching cars and throwing rocks at police. She will be buried Friday near her father in their family village. More »