Bilawal: Politics in my blood
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari returns to Britain after burying his mother Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan
Also In The News
|
Published by Harper Collins, hardback, 382 pages, £16. |  |
Tuesday, 08, Jan 2008 12:20
The son of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto has spoken of the importance of 'giving hope' to the next generation of voters.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told a news conference upon his return to the UK that "politics is in my blood" but acknowledged his experience is "limited".
The 19-year-old was chosen as the new chairman of his mother's Pakistan People's party (PPP) following her assassination on December 27th last year.
Parliamentary elections in Pakistan scheduled to take place today have been delayed until February 18th following Mrs Bhutto's assassination.
He has returned to Britain to continue his studies at Oxford University after burying his mother in Pakistan, with his father and Mrs Bhutto's widower - Asif Ali Zardari – fulfilling the majority of chairmanship duties in his absence.
Although he admitted he was "a bit nervous" at his elevation to the forefront of Pakistani opposition politics, he insisted the PPP "needed a close association with my mother through the bloodline".
"It is important to give hope to the new generations of Pakistanis, in these elections and beyond," he explained.
"Politics is in my blood – my experience is limited but I intend to learn.
"My immediate priority is to return to Oxford and complete my studies, otherwise I will never be in a position to have sufficient wisdom to enter the political arena," Bilawal said, adding that the "greatest strength" of his mother, an alumnus of Harvard and Oxford, was her education.
The teenager appealed for the media to respect his privacy while he continued his studies at Oxford and said he had been "distressed" by the spate of fake profiles in his name appearing on social networking website Facebook.
On his mother's death itself, the cause of which has been disputed by the PPP, the government and president Pervez Musharraf, Bilawal said she would still be alive if "adequate protection" had been provided.
"Since her death is under investigation we will not comment further," he added.
Bilawal also inferred that Mr Musharraf, the former army chief who arrived in a bloodless coup in 1999, was a "dictator" and directly linked a rise in extremism in Pakistan to his administration.
Following his statement the PPP chairman was asked how he felt entering politics in light of the fates of his mother and grandfather - former president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was executed in 1979 after being convicted of electoral fraud.
"It does not put me off," he replied.