TREND, HOWEVER

The decision of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, announced last Wednesday, to extend his stay abroad (on December 6 he was hospitalized in a Dubai hospital due to a stroke) attracted the attention of experts and journalists to 23-year-old Bilawal Zardari-Bhutto, the son of Zardari and the former prime minister. -Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. According to these observers, for example the British Jason Burke, work is actively underway in Pakistan to strengthen the authority of Bilawal Bhutto and, possibly, on a scenario for transferring power to him if Asif Zardari is no longer able to serve as president for health reasons.

Bilawal Bhutto spent most of his life abroad, but returned home last year. Together with his father, he is the co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, which was once led by Benazir Bhutto herself. As the British The Guardian reported, those around Bilawal Bhutto do not hide the young man’s most serious political intentions. His trips around the country and meetings with voters are already planned. Any of his travels or other actions are now covered by the government and party press services.

In Pakistan itself they look at this as something completely natural. In the end, Benazir Bhutto led the party that her father founded and led for many years. He was executed in 1979 by the then military ruler of the country, General Zia-ul-Haq. In turn, when Benazir Bhutto became the victim of a terrorist attack in December 2007, the party was led by her husband Asif Ali Zardari.

A similar pattern of transfer of power along party lines exists in other countries in the region. Much of India's history as a modern independent nation is the story of the family rule of the heirs of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was succeeded by his daughter Indira Gandhi, who in turn was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi. Now Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia not only heads the ruling Indian National Congress party, but is also considered by many to be the real force behind the country's current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Pakistan under Bhutto's control