BBC Online on Bhutto's Successor

Bhutto's son named as successor

Bilawal says his father will run the party while he is away

Benazir Bhutto's 19-year-old son Bilawal has been chosen to take over her Pakistan People's Party, after her assassination on Thursday.

He will become president in a ceremonial capacity while he finishes his studies at Oxford University.

Bilawal told journalists at the Bhutto family home: "My mother always said democracy is the best revenge".

Ms Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, who will run the party day-to-day, said it would contest January elections.

And he appealed to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif - a long-time Bhutto rival - to drop his threat to boycott the polls.

Name change

Mr Zardari and his son were speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the PPP leadership in Naudero, near Larkana in southern Pakistan.

PPP TOP LEADERS Asif Ali Zardari (pictured) Benazir's widower and former political ally, has faced corruption and other charges Bilawal Bhutto Benazir's son, a 19-year-old Oxford University student, considered too young by some PPP members Makhdoom Amin Fahim Senior PPP figure and top aide to Benazir Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Mourners blame Musharraf Search for stability continues

Another senior party official, vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, said Ms Bhutto had named Mr Zardari as her successor as party chairman.

But he said Mr Zardari had turned it down in favour of his son - a decision he said the party leadership had endorsed.

Mr Zardari also announced that the couple's children would now change their names and be called Bhutto Zardari.

Sitting between his father and Mr Fahim, Bilawal himself said his father would run the party while he was away at university.

"When I return, I promise to lead the party as my mother wanted me to," he said.

But Mr Zardari blocked any further reporters' questions to Bilawal, saying that although party chairman, he was still of "tender age".

"We are all in mourning," he said.

Mr Zardari also said he had refused to allow an autopsy on Ms Bhutto's body.

"I've lived here long enough to know how and where an autopsy would have been conducted," he said.

Instead, he said the party was asking the United Nations and the British government to conduct an investigation similar to the one carried out after the killing of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

And he appealed for an end to the unrest in Pakistan, which has killed at least 38 people since Ms Bhutto's killing.

New pictures

Earlier, Pakistani television released new pictures it said showed Ms Bhutto's attackers - a gunman and a suicide bomber. They also apparently showed Ms Bhutto was inside her car, and no longer standing through the sun roof, when the explosion happened.

Pakistani media picked out two suspected attackers, one of which apparently raised a gun (bottom)

The images added to the dispute over Ms Bhutto's death.

Interior ministry spokesman Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema said on Friday that she was killed when the force of the bomb blast knocked her head against a sun roof fitting, and was not hit by bullets.

The PPP has insisted she was killed by two bullets, one of which pierced her skull and another which hit her in the neck.

The assassination opened the question of whether elections due on 8 January would go ahead as planned.

The ruling party says they are likely to be delayed for several weeks, on the grounds that the vote would "lose credibility" if held under current conditions.

Opposition parties have been calling for a delay, amid widespread unrest and political disarray following the murder of Ms Bhutto.

Tariq Azim of the ruling PML-Q party said a delay would allow the PPP more time to re-organise.

Pakistan's election commission has called an emergency meeting for Monday, to decide whether the poll should be delayed.

But the PPP says it wants the elections to go ahead as planned - even though it is not clear who would be its leading candidates.

At 19, Bilawal is legally too young to stand for parliament.

And his father has been repeatedly accused of corruption - though he denies the charges and has never been convicted in court.

Mr Zardari said party vice-chairman Mr Fahim would probably be its candidate for prime minister.

But the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones - reporting from Naudero - says filling the political gap left by Benazir Bhutto will be a very big challenge for her party.

Latest From BBC Online on Bhutto's Funeral

Bhutto buried amid mass mourning

Mourners at the funeral in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Enlarge Image

Tens of thousands of people have attended the funeral of assassinated Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto.

Mourners converged on the family mausoleum where she was buried next to her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto near their home village in Sindh province.

The coffin, draped in the flag of Ms Bhutto's party, was driven in a white ambulance through the dense crowds.

Pakistan's interior ministry has said it has evidence al-Qaeda and the Taleban were behind the assassination.

Officials were speaking after a reported claim of responsibility by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Ms Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister, was shot at an election rally in Rawalpindi on Thursday by a gunman who then blew himself up.

Pakistani security forces are on high alert, with at least 19 people killed in protests by Bhutto supporters across the country since the assassination.

Slogans and tears

Ms Bhutto's plain wooden coffin was taken from the family home to the burial site 7km (four miles) away at the village of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh.

Search for stability continues Shock in home province Press mourns Bhutto

Amid weeping and beating of heads and chests, mourners jostled to see the coffin, which was accompanied by Ms Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari and her three children.

Her father, also a former national leader, was hanged in 1979 by an earlier Pakistani military government.

Outside the triple-domed mausoleum, crowds chanted slogans blaming President Pervez Musharraf for Ms Bhutto's death.

The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is in the district of Larkana, says the mood among local people is one of anger and confusion.

Rioting and unrest has been reported across the country.

• At least one passenger train was set ablaze in Sindh Province and a number of railway stations were reportedly burnt as security forces in the province were ordered to shoot rioters on sight
• Several people died in Karachi as government offices, police stations and vehicles were torched by rioters and police opened fire on protesters in Hyderabad
• The office of a pro-government party was ransacked and set ablaze in Peshawar
• In the city of Multan in Punjab province, a mob ransacked seven banks and torched a petrol station

Other cities across Pakistan are at a virtual standstill.

Schools, businesses and transport are all closed, and people are reluctant to step out during the three days of national mourning declared by Mr Musharraf.

Musharraf under pressure

Plans for a general election on 8 January, for which Ms Bhutto had been campaigning when she was killed, remain unchanged, the government says.

Security forces have been out in strength in Sindh province

The election is meant to pave the way for a return to democratic rule, suspended in October 1999 when the then Gen Musharraf seized power through a coup.

Mohammedmian Soomro, the caretaker prime minister, said the government would consult other political parties on the election issue.

Ms Bhutto's political rival Nawaz Sharif, who was deposed as prime minister in the coup, has announced his party will now boycott the election, saying free elections were impossible under Mr Musharraf.

Another opposition politician, the former cricketer Imran Khan, joined Mr Sharif's call for Mr Musharraf's resignation, blaming the president for failing to provide adequate security for Ms Bhutto.

With all the opposition parties now against the election, it is hard to see how they will be a true test of the democratic process, the BBC's Karishma Vaswani reports.

'Hit list'

Ms Bhutto, 54, was leaving the election rally in Rawalpindi, standing in the open sunroof of a car, when the gunman shot her in the neck and chest.

BENAZIR BHUTTO Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979 Spent five years in prison Served as PM from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996 Sacked twice by president on corruption charges Formed alliance with rival ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2006 Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in October Educated at Harvard and Oxford Obituary: Benazir Bhutto Life in pictures

Seconds later, the attacker blew himself up, killing at least 20 other people.

Ms Bhutto returned from eight years of self-imposed exile in October, following an amnesty agreed with President Musharraf.

Shortly after her return, she survived a double bomb attack on her convoy in Karachi which killed more than 130 people.

She accused rogue elements of the intelligence services of involvement in the attack.

Pakistan is at the brink of civil war, courtesy of the dictatorship Dr Rubab Ahmed, London Have your say Bhutto in her own words

The al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, claimed responsibility for her assassination, according to the Asia Times newspaper.

Javed Cheema, spokesman for the Pakistani interior ministry, told AFP news agency Ms Bhutto had been on the militant Islamist network's "hit list".

Bhutto Murdered

A very sad and shocking day indeed today when news of the death of Benazir Bhutto was announced to the world after she died at 9.16pm Malaysian time.

Here is a report from BBC Online that will now go down in history.

I was only inches away from her mother in Vienna in 1993, I think it was now, during 2nd World Conference on Human Rights.

Much too lachrymose to say anything.

aNt



Last Updated: Thursday, 27 December 2007, 15:17 GMT

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Printable version

Benazir Bhutto killed in attack

Benazir Bhutto had been addressing rallies in many parts of Pakistan Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a presumed suicide attack. Ms Bhutto had just addressed an election rally in Rawalpindi when gunfire and an explosion occurred. At least 15 other people are reported killed in the attack and several more were injured. President Pervez Musharraf and his government called on people to remain calm so that the "nefarious designs of terrorists can be defeated." Ms Bhutto had twice been the country's prime minister and had been campaigning ahead of elections due in January. Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister and a political rival, told the BBC her death was a tragedy for "the entire nation". "I can't tell you what the feelings of the people of Pakistan are today," he told BBC News 24 after returning from the hospital where she was brought. It was the second suicide attack against Benazir Bhutto in recent months and comes amid a wave of bombings targeting security and government officials. Ms Bhutto's death has plunged her party into confusion and raised questions about whether January elections will go ahead as planned, the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says. The PPP has the largest support of any party in the country. Analysts note that Rawalpindi, the nerve centre of Pakistan's military, is seen as one of the country's most secure cities, making the attack even more embarrassing for the government of Gen Musharraf. Scene of grief The explosion occurred close to an entrance gate of the park in Rawalpindi where Ms Bhutto had been speaking. People were distraught at the scene of the blast Wasif Ali Khan, a member of the PPP who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital, said she died at 1816 (1316 GMT). Supporters at the hospital began chanting "Dog, Musharraf, dog", the Associated Press (AP) reports. Some supporters wept while others exploded in anger, throwing stones at cars and breaking windows. An interior ministry spokesman, Javed Cheema, was quoted as saying by AFP that she may have been killed by pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest. However, AP quoted a PPP security adviser as saying she was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, before the gunman blew himself up. Mr Sharif said there had been a "serious lapse in security" by the government. Earlier on Thursday, at least four people were killed ahead of an election rally he himself had been preparing to attend close to Rawalpindi. Return from exile The killing was condemned by the US, the UK, Russia and France. BENAZIR BHUTTO Father led Pakistan before being executed in 1979 Spent five years in prison Served as PM from 1988-1990 and 1993-1996 Sacked twice by president on corruption charges Formed alliance with rival ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in 2006 Ended self-imposed exile by returning to Pakistan in October Educated at Harvard and Oxford Obituary: Benazir Bhutto Life in pictures In pictures: Fatal rally "The attack shows that there are still those in Pakistan trying to undermine reconciliation and democratic development in Pakistan," a US state department official said. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was "deeply shocked" by Ms Bhutto's death and called for "restraint but also unity". "Extremist groups... cannot and must not succeed," he added. Russia called on Pakistan's leaders to ensure stability while France spoke of an "odious" act and said it was deeply concerned. Ms Bhutto returned from self-imposed exile in October after years out of Pakistan where she had faced corruption charges. Her return was the result of a power-sharing agreement with President Musharraf in which he granted an amnesty that covered the court cases she was facing. Since her return relations with Mr Musharraf had broken down. On the day of her return she led a motor cavalcade through the city of Karachi. It was hit by a double suicide attack that left some 130 dead.

Hey, I'm mentioned! Fancy that?

	Y.B. DATO' SERI SHAHRIZAT ABDUL JALIL Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat Ucapan Y.B. Dato' Seri Sharizat binti Abdul Jalil PERUTUSAN Y.B. DATO’ SERI SHAHRIZAT ABDUL JALIL MENTERI PEMBANGUNAN WANITA, KELUARGA DAN MASYARAKAT SEMPENA MAJLIS PENUTUP DIALOG “HOME OFFICE” DI HOTEL PRINCE, KUALA LUMPUR PADA 18 MEI 2004 Assalammulaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuh dan selamat petang. Terlebih dahulu marilah kita memanjangkan kesyukuran kita kepada Allah s.w.t. kerana dengan limpah kurniaNya dapat kita hadir ke majlis penutup Dialog “Home Office” pada petang ini. Sukacita saya mengambil kesempatan ini untuk merakamkan berbanyak-banyak terima kasih kepada para penceramah dan pengerusi sesi Dialog “Home Office” kerana sudi meluangkan masa bersama-sama kita untuk berkongsi buah fikiran dan pengalaman masing-masing dan seterusnya membincangkan isu-isu berkaitan “home office”. Saya turut merakamkan ucapan terima kasih kepada wakil-wakil daripada kementerian, jabatan dan agensi kerajaan, badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) serta institusi pengajian tinggi kerana memberikan sokongan padu dalam menjayakan dialog ini. Bekerja dari rumah merupakan cara kerja alternatif yang cuba diperkenalkan oleh Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat kepada masyarakat Malaysia, khususnya bagi golongan wanita, orang kurang upaya dan warga emas. Penganalisis ekonomi berpendapat bahawa “home office” adalah “trend” bekerja pada masa hadapan. Di Amerika Syarikat, umpamanya, “home office” sedang pesat berkembang pada kadar pertumbuhan tahunan kira-kira 10%. Keinginan untuk mencapai “economic self-sufficiency” telah memberikan motivasi dan semangat kepada ramai penduduk Amerika Syarikat bagi memasarkan kemahiran mereka untuk beroleh pendapatan daripada rumah. Berdasarkan perkembangan semasa ini, semakin ramai orang di seluruh dunia ingin mengawal kehidupan mereka dengan memulakan perniagaan dari rumah atau bekerja di rumah. Konsep “home office” ini boleh menjadi sumber pendapatan utama untuk seseorang ataupun “part-time venture” bagi memperolehi pendapatan sampingan bagi keluarga mereka. Inovasi dan perkembangan pesat dalam bidang teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT), terutamanya Internet, telah memberikan peluang baru kepada orang ramai untuk bekerja dari rumah. Dari pengalaman negara Barat, sebahagian besar daripada pengamal konsep “home office” memulakannya secara sambilan terlebih dahulu. Seterusnya, perniagaan tersebut berkembang menjadi pekerjaan sepenuh masa dan sumber pendapatan utama. Itulah sebabnya konsep “home office” mendapat sambutan yang memberangsangkan daripada suri rumah tangga, warga emas, golongan kurang upaya, serta individu yang ingin mencari pendapatan sampingan. Saya ingin mengambil kesempatan ini untuk mengingatkan kita semua bahawa pelaksanaan “home office” tidak boleh dipandang ringan. Ini kerana kejayaan “home office” memerlukan kemahiran dalam penghasilan sesuatu produk atau perkhidmatan serta pemasarannya secara berkesan. Selain itu, ianya memerlukan kecekapan dalam bidang pengurusan dan sikap positif seseorang individu. Terdapat banyak cabaran yang perlu kita hadapi sebelum memperoleh kejayaan yang diharapkan. Sehubungan itu, kita perlu merancang dengan teliti sebelum menceburkan diri dalam “home office”. Tanpa perancangan yang rapi, kita mungkin akan kerugian masa yang berharga selain daripada wang ringgit. Di Malaysia, konsep “home office” telah mula dipraktikkan oleh masyarakat tempatan, tetapi belum secara meluas. Penggunaan ICT telah membolehkan seseorang individu bekerja dari rumah. Salah satu contoh kejayaan pelaksanaan konsep “home office” ialah program eHomemakers.net. Ia adalah sebuah komuniti siber bagi suri rumah dan pekerja di rumah yang memilih tugas menjadi ibu bapa sebagai tanggungjawab utama dan sebagai gaya hidup alternatif. Selain itu, eHomemakers.net turut menggalakkan dan membimbing ahli-ahlinya untuk bekerja dari rumah dengan menyediakan maklumat mengenai cara membuat keputusan, cara memulakan dan mengekalkan usaha penjanaan pendapatan dari rumah, serta menyediakan pelantar siber bagi kegiatan peribadi secara berdikari, di mana ahli-ahli saling tolong-menolong melalui rangkaian perniagaan, penyelesaian masalah secara kreatif dan perkongsian idea. Satu lagi contoh yang baik mengenai kejayaan “home office” di Malaysia ialah seorang penulis bagi ruangan Wheel Power dalam akhbar The Star. Penulis yang saya maksudkan itu ialah Encik Anthony Thanasayan. Walaupun beliau tergolong dalam kategori orang kurang upaya, tetapi beliau telah menjadi penulis ruangan khas The Star semenjak lapan tahun yang lepas. Apa yang menarik ialah beliau tidak pernah menjejakkan kaki ke pejabat urusan The Star tetapi mampu memberi sumbangan artikelnya secara berterusan kepada akhbar tersebut. Encik Anthony telah menggunakan ICT dengan sepenuhnya untuk bekerja di rumah bagi mencari nafkah. Sekiranya kita mengupas konsep “home office” dengan terperinci, kita akan mengetahui bahawa elemen utamanya ialah “tanpa meninggalkan rumah”. Elemen ini amat penting bagi wanita yang mempunyai anak kecil kerana kecenderungan wanita-wanita ini untuk berada dekat dengan anak-anak mereka. Wanita-wanita ini yakin bahawa mereka adalah penjaga yang terbaik untuk anak-anak mereka berbanding dengan pengasuh atau pembantu rumah. Para ibu ini tidak boleh disalahkan kerana ada kajian yang menunjukkan bahawa enam tahun pertama adalah amat kritikal untuk kanak-kanak kerana mereka memerlukan penjagaan yang terbaik. Jadi, daripada meletakkan anak-anak kita di bawah jagaan orang-orang yang tidak tentu latar belakangnya, adalah lebih baik kita menjaga anak kita sendiri. Wanita-wanita yang berpegang kepada prinsip ini sanggup berhenti kerja dari mempertaruhkan masa depan anak-anak mereka di tangan orang lain. Kadangkala, yang berhenti itu adalah wanita-wanita yang amat berkelayakan dan berpotensi. Jika perkara ini dibiarkan, maka negara akan kerugian dari segi sumber tenaga yang boleh membangunkan negara. Sehubungan itu, “home office” bukan sahaja memberi peluang kepada wanita untuk bekerja di rumah dan memperolehi pendapatan, tetapi juga memberi peluang kepada wanita untuk bersama-sama memberi sumbangan ke arah pembangunan negara. Konsep bekerja ““home office” dapat memberikan kesan positif kepada seseorang kerana peningkatan produktiviti melalui pengurangan masa yang terbazir dalam perjalanan pergi dan balik ke pejabat disebabkan kesesakan lalu lintas. Pada masa yang sama, kesesakan jalan raya yang dihadapi terutamanya di bandar raya utama di negara ini seperti Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang dan Johor Bahru dapat diatasi. Ini turut membantu mengurangkan pencemaran udara di persekitaran kita. Saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua pihak yang telah memberikan cadangan dan pandangan yang bernas bagi menjayakan Dialog “Home Office” pada hari ini. Kementerian saya akan meneliti semua cadangan dan saranan yang diberikan sebelum mengemukakannya kepada pihak kerajaan supaya konsep bekerja dari rumah atau “home office” dapat dikembangkan di Malaysia, dan dalam masa yang sama dapat mewujudkan masyarakat yang mesra keluarga. Saya yakin rumusan dan syor yang diberikan dapat membantu kerajaan dalam usaha merangka program-program yang berkesan ke arah mewujudkan kaedah kerja alternatif kepada rakyat Malaysia. Pihak kerajaan akan cuba menyediakan persekitaran dan mekanisme sokongan yang sesuai bagi membolehkan masyarakat Malaysia, khususnya wanita, golongan kurang upaya dan warga emas, menggunakan sepenuhnya potensi mereka di dalam dunia perniagaan dan “home office”. Akhir kata, dengan lafaz Bismillah Hirrahma Nirrahim, saya menutup dengan rasminya Dialog “Home Office” anjuran Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat. Sekian, terima kasih. DATO’ SERI SHAHRIZAT ABDUL JALIL
	HAKCIPTA TERPELIHARA © 2003 INSTITUT SOSIAL MALAYSIA

Back To My Nest

HEY I'M BACK! Not quite sure for how long though. As you might have imagined, I've been struggling to find time keeping my other Blogs updated.

Namely, PETPOSITIVE, Air Raves Malaysia and Wheel Power Malaysia. Feedback received from blog readers tell me that I've managed pretty well with PET+, so no worries there.

Yesterday, I was forced to create a new Air Raves Malaysia Blog. This was because as an amateur blogger, I made a mess of the Blog's formatting which I disliked. And since I don't know how to get it back to normal, I decided to create a new one which starts with last week's article.

So now, those interested to read articles from December 9, 2007 and before, they will have to click on the now old Air Raves to read them. For those interested in December 16 and in future, you have to click to the all new Air Raves Malaysia which I hope to improve over the next few weeks.

The same applies for aN aNt's liFe too. I hope to keep this Blog as often as I can - even if it means talking about my often crazy life.

As for Wheel Power, I decided to add "Malaysia" in it. This is because there are many readers overseas.

As an added feature, I will be, from time to time, including my original Wheel Power articles in this Blog.

The reason for this is because sometimes my articles are edited so much that not everything I want to say - in the way I want to say it - comes out in my published articles. This, I'm told by my dear editors is because of the lack of space rather than anything else.

So look out for them.

With that, this is aNt, signing off for now.