Bhutto's son, husband to lead party
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Asif Ali Zardari (with white cap) and Bilawal leave after Benazir Bhutto's funeral, December 28, 2007. (Reuters: Zahid Hussein)
The 19-year-old son of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal, has been appointed chairman of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) along with his father.
Former prime minister Ms Bhutto was killed in a gun and bomb attack as she left an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Top officials of her party were meeting in the southern town of Naudero to decide who should lead the party.
"It has been decided that Bilawal will be the chairman and Mr (Asif Ali) Zardari will be co-chairman," one of the party officials said.
Asif Ali Zardari was Ms Bhutto's husband.
The party had also set up a committee to urge the United Nations to demand that the Pakistani Government allow an independent inquiry into Bhutto's killing, one of the officials said.
Mr Zardari said the PPP would take part in national elections set for January 8.
He also called on former premier Nawaz Sharif to reverse his decision to boycott the polls, which Mr Sharif had announced in the wake of Ms Bhutto's death.
Election in doubt
But it was not immediately clear if the election would go ahead.
The party backing Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has suspended election campaigning, citing the unrest following Ms Bhutto's assassination.
"We have suspended our campaign because of the prevailing situation," said Tariq Azim, the country's former deputy information minister.
"We do not have a climate in which we can canvass voters."
"Keeping everything in mind, a delay of 10 to 12 weeks is realistic."
Mr Azim said Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had declared a 40-day period of mourning after she was slain in a gun and suicide attack at a campaign rally on Thursday, which has thrown the country into violence and turmoil.
"Perhaps it will be asking too much of the PPP if they are to go to voters and contest the elections next week," he said.
Mr Azim's Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) was the country's ruling party until Mr Musharraf dissolved parliament in November and appointed a caretaker government, which was to run the nation until the election.
Both the PPP and other opposition parties rejected the caretaker set-up as an extension of the PML-Q, deeming it partisan and demanding that Mr Musharraf instead announce a national consensus government to conduct the elections.
- AFP/Reuters
