SENIOR AIDES of the Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari, have said that he will remain out of Pakistan for up to two weeks following a “small stroke” eight days ago, raising fears of a long period of political instability in the south Asian state.
An associate of the president told Associated Press that Mr Zardari (56) would stay in the Gulf emirate of Dubai for further medical tests but insisted there was no question of Mr Zardari being too ill to return to office.
Fauzia Wahab, an adviser to the president and former information secretary, said Mr Zardari “remained and would remain in power” and would be back “soon”. However, the president and his close circle remain worried about the possibility of a military coup.
Much attention is now being focused on Mr Zardari’s son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (23), who spent much of his youth overseas but returned to Pakistan last year.
“Bilawal is here [in Pakistan] to show that the family and the party are going nowhere,” Ms Wahab added. “There is no question of anyone running away.”
A plan for him to participate in rallies and visits across Pakistan in coming weeks has been put on hold due to security concerns, but it is clear that the recent Oxford graduate, whose mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated four years ago, is being prepared for power.
“His father has only ever seen himself as a transition leader. Bilawal is the blood heir to a family of political martyrs so he is the political future,” said one observer close to the family.
A “mass contact campaign” to launch Bilawal, who succeeded his mother as chairman of the Pakistan People’s party, as a major national figure was mooted by senior figures in the organisation last month.
Since Mr Zardari’s departure for Dubai, every engagement of his son has been publicised by government and party spokesmen.
Bilawal’s agenda resembles that of a head of state, rather than a recent history graduate. Over two days last week, he had meetings with the top leadership and young activists of the ruling PPP, was briefed by a top parliamentarian on national security and held series of receptions for the PPP’s coalition allies.
He also issued an order that the party follow a harsher line on US-Pakistan relations, currently at a nadir following the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a border clash with Nato troops, officials said. – (Guardian service)