Time Magazine is reporting that Bhutto’s Son may be her political successor.
"A senior official of Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) told TIME late Saturday that the slain former prime minister's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will likely be named as her political heir and the new party leader on Sunday."
As mentioned in the article, the Party members hope that Bilawal Bhutto, a 19 year old student at Oxford will become the leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and will run in the Parliamentary elections:
"...As PPP members have begun to contemplate who should take over as party leader, a consensus has emerged that the person needs to be a Bhutto, a name that retains incredible power and vote-winning influence in secular Pakistan despite — or perhaps because of — the tragedies and controversies the family has faced. It is not the first time a young Bhutto has taken over from a dead parent. "This was also the situation when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was murdered," says Babar Awan, a PPP Senator and close ally of Benazir. "Benazir was a teenager, she was a student at Harvard in 1979 [when Zulfikar Ali was hanged]. It is basically the hard core of the PPP that rallies around their great hope and that they attach to the House of Bhutto..."
But, there is also discussion that Bhutto’s husband might be named her successor:
"...Many people had tipped Benazir's husband Asif Ali Zardari for the top spot, and in the unpredictable world of Pakistani politics that could still happen. An experienced politician, Zardari served as Environment Minister in his wife's second administration. But he is also a controversial figure in Pakistan, and has spent a total of 11 years in prison on various charges..."
I’m not an expert on the complexities of the political situation in Pakistan, but I wonder if a Bhutto family successor would be a good or bad thing for Pakistan. Bilawal’s young age and inexperience would be difficult hurdles for him to overcome in governing such a complex situation as the current situation in Pakistan. Benazir’s husband, Asif Ali Zardi, would also have some very difficult hurdles to overcome, considering his previous imprisonment
"...on various charges including blackmail and corruption..."
The Time article mentions that other members of Bhutto’s family are also possibly being considered to succeed Benazir. In the opposition power vacuum left by Ms. Bhutto's assassination, many people in Pakistan are seeking a successor that would be strong enough and popular enough to stand up to and to win an election from Musharraf.
The question is whether or not the person who will have the best chance of doing that is a member of Bhutto’s family. If a member of the Bhutto family should become the President of Pakistan, would they have the necessary skills and knowledge to successfully govern a country that is facing such complex and dangerous issues? One thing that is clear--if a member of her family does choose to run, they will certainly demonstrate that they have a great deal of courage.