Bhutto vs Sharif, Oxford vs Cambridge, as Pakistans young pretenders go head to head The younger generations of Pakistans big poiitical families are squaring up to each other in forthcoming elections, reports Rob Crilly ONE studied at Oxford, the other at Cambridge. Their family rivalry dates back almost 40 years, to when the family of one saw their business empire ravaged by the nationalisation policy of the other. But what Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have in common is being young, glamorous and heirs to Pakistans two leading political dynasties. Both will be prominent voices due in general elections due in May. The poetry-loving Ms Sharif is the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, a wealthy industrialist from the Punjabi city of Lahore, who fell out with Bilawals late grandfather, Zulfiqar Bhutto, after he nationalised the Sharif businesses as Pakistans socialist leader in the 1970s. Himself a two-time prime minister, Mr Sharif is frontrunner to emerge with the largest party and the first crack at forming a coalition after the polls of Pakistans 80 million voters. During the campaign, his daughter is acting as one of his chief campaigners and mouthpieces - particularly on womens rights - and is expected to eventually succeed him one day. Related Articles Multi-million pound home for Benazir Bhuttos son 08 Feb 2013 Benazir Bhuttos son launches political career 27 Dec 2012 Asif Ali Zardari extending Pakistan political dynasty with son 03 Sep 2012 Pakistan Supreme Court reopens government power struggle 08 Aug 2012 Bilawal Bhutto quietly takes centre stage in Pakistan 25 Dec 2011 Contact lenses: liberating the visually impaired Philips His legacy is beautiful, she told an interviewer last year. Who would not want to step into those shoes? A party insider added: She has grown very close to her father and you can see her learning from him. Already on a similar path is Oxford-educated Bilawal, 24, who became the third generation of Bhuttos to lead the Pakistan Peoples Party after his mother, Benazir, was assassinated in December 2007. Pakistans national assembly had only a scattering of members present on Thursday when it quietly dissolved itself at the end of its five-year term. It was a historic moment. If elections go to plan then Pakistan will see the first democratic transition of power in its 65-year history, a period marked by political instability and three military coups. Bilawals father, Asif Ali Zardari, has been president of Pakistan since 2008, when he was catapulted into the political limelight after the assassination of his wife, Benazir. She was killed in a suicide attack as she campaigned for a third stint as prime minister. At 24, he is still too young to stand in elections, but a constituency is waiting for him, reportedly the troubled neighbourhood of Lyari in Karachi, as a twenty-fifth birthday present. Both political novices have recently been hitting the campaign trail, becoming very public campaigners for their fathers. Bilawal will represent the Bhutto legacy and Maryam will be very active with women, said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political commentator. Well be seeing them in campaign mode for the first time. Ms Sharif, 39, has helped run her familys charitable trust for the past decade or so but has recently carved out her own niche touring schools and colleges, where she addresses students on the importance of education and womens rights. She is also doing a PHD through Cambridge University about Islamic radicalisation in Pakistan - a subject that no Pakistani politician can afford to ignore. While her fathers party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, or PML-N, has been accused of being lenient towards Islamic militancy, she says: There is no place for extremism and militancy in Islam. Many in Pakistan still know her best for the scandal surrounding her choice of husband. Rather than a traditional arranged marriage, she fell in love with Captain Muhammad Safdar, when he was aide de camp to her father. She underwent a political awakening during almost a decade in exile, when her family fled to Saudi Arabia during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf. I found some solace when I visited holy places, but the yearning for the homeland never abated, she told Newsweek, a period she described as her rebirth. She is now widely expected to contest the constituency of Raiwind, where her father built a palace from what was left of the family fortune after the nationalisation of their steel business in the 1970s. She also Tweets regularly as she tours the country, with missives such as Another survey endorses PMLN as largest most popular party in Pakistan. Her rival, Bilawal, who graduated from Oxford with a 2-1 in history, could perhaps be forgiven for avoiding politics, given that it has claimed the lives of both his mother and his grandfather, who was executed on the orders of Pakistans former dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq. But he moved centre stage when his father was flown to hospital in Dubai a little over a year ago, amid rumours of a military takeover against his presidency. State media then pictured him chairing government and political meetings, a move which commentators said was designed to remind Pakistan that President Zardari and the Bhutto dynasty were still firmly in power. Since then his profile has grown. He has become a familiar sight at his fathers side, welcoming world leaders to Pakistan, and his love life has been the subject of speculation by the Pakistani media. Last year, Hina Rabbani Khar, the countrys glamorous foreign minister, was forced to deny she was having an affair with the presidents son, a rumour that some claimed was part of a smear campaign run by the military. Bilawals fans hope he will restore his mothers party to its traditional compassionate, leftist position, but fear his privileged upbringing and foreign education have disconnected him from ordinary voters. His late mother, they say, would also have made sure he had a firmer grasp of Urdu. Naheed Khan, who was close to Mrs Bhutto, said Bilawal risked being exposed too early if he was expected to defend his fathers unpopular government. He has to take a very clear decision, whether he wants to carry his grandfather and grandmothers legacy or he wants to go along with his father and what his father has done in five years, she said. Whoever wins in elections, one thing seems certain: Pakistans political dynasties show few signs of fading away.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 10:24:42 +0000
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