Benazir Bhutto - SZABIST

Pakistan loses a fighter for democracy
Nicholas Coates
What a tragedy for the people of Pakistan. They have lost in Benazir Bhutto someone who had to fight
all her life to get where she did.
She had suffered personal grief with the deaths of her father, brothers and sister; she spent most of her
five-year jail time in solitary confinement.
While all that may have altered her perception on life, it never weakened her resolve. Nor her desire to
see democracy return to her country.
Her political views doubtless strengthened as a result of the execution of her father, Zulfikar Ali
Bhutto in 1979 following a controversial trial for apparently authorising the murder of a political
opponent. The execution was largely seen as politically motivated under the directives of General
Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was Pakistan's first popularly elected prime minister. His death occurred while
Benazir Bhutto was two years into serving a five-year jail sentence. Bhutto succeeded twice in being
elected to the post of prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996, becoming the
first female.
On both occasions she was dismissed from office by the president for alleged corruption and misuse
of power. That these charges were never proven to the satisfaction of the courts merely serves to
demonstrate the vacillations of jurisprudence and governance in Pakistan. With various charges being
laid at her door, she decided to leave Pakistan and reside abroad, in voluntary self-exile, in the hope
that by staying out of jail and fighting through her legal representatives, where she could have better
access outside the country, it would enable her to fight her cause more effectively.
It is true to say that Bhutto aroused strong emotions in Pakistanis. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
founded by her father, and subsequently spearheaded by Bhutto achieved enormous public support
among the populace. Indeed, in the forthcoming elections, it was expected that not only would her
party trounce Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML) but also the PML (Q), which supports
President Pervez Musharraf. Had this latter been achieved, it would very much have undermined the
credibility of Musharraf, who seized power from Nawaz Sharif in a coup, and subsequently, and
reluctantly, decided to hold an election for presidency, which not only was questionable in being held,
but also in the balloting.
It is for these reasons that Bhutto - and even Sharif - thought their positions among the populace had
improved dramatically in an election for prime minister.
However, Bhutto's secret approaches to the military regime were seen as a betrayal by many of her
supporters, as well as her opponents. Subsequently, Bhutto deemed it more prudent to disassociate
herself from the negotiations and the Musharraf regime, especially as Musharraf constantly vacillated
on his position on how he should proceed. It is possible that this was her undoing in the eyes of the