The son of Pakistan’s murdered ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto has promised to fight militancy to maintain democracy, in his first major political speech.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told party supporters marking five years since his mother’s death that she “sacrificed her life to uphold democracy”.
Benazir died in a gun and bomb attack during her 2007 election campaign.
Her son, whose father is President Asif Ali Zardari, has so far kept a low profile as party chairman.
In remarks carried by Pakistan state television, Bilawal told the crowd of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supporters gathered near his family’s shrine in Sindh province that the people were “the source of power”.
“The beacon of democracy continues to shine,” he said, pledging that his party would fight militancy and extremism to create a peaceful, democratic Pakistan.
The 24-year-old Oxford graduate has been PPP chairman since his mother’s assassination by Taliban militants. He cannot contest an election until his 25th birthday, which falls next September, some months after a parliamentary vote is due.
It was the first time that Pakistanis had heard Bilawal speak live on radio and TV.
He was confident and articulate and his speech emotionally charged, the BBC’s Shahzeb Jillani reports from the event in the city of Larkana.
President Zardari, who also addressed the crowd, promised that next year’s vote would be free and fair.
Show of strength
Security was tight as activists carrying portraits of Benazir and her father, former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, arrived at the shrine.
The governing PPP is keen to use the rally as a show of strength to demonstrate that despite widespread criticism over its performance during the past five years, it still enjoys popular support, our correspondent says.
Bilawal’s father has been at the forefront of the party until now but faces dwindling support over corruption allegations.
Those fed up with President Zardari’s politics are looking to his son to help revive the party’s mass appeal, our correspondent says.
The Bhutto dynasty has been a major political force since Pakistan gained independence in 1947.
Benazir, whose father founded the PPP, was prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996.
On both occasions she was dismissed from office for alleged corruption.
No-one has been charged with her assassination.
A UN inquiry in 2010 found that her murder could have been prevented and that the subsequent investigation was bungled.
Source:The Daily Star
