Over the last two days, in the courtyard of Naudero House, Murtaza Bhutto’s teenage son, Zulfikar, has sat quietly, wrapped in a shawl, never once entering the house where strangers and journalists tramped through all day. It was a stark illustration of the scars that divide the Bhutto clan.

Murtaza Bhutto is buried in the family mausoleum, in a village less than five miles from the house, but not next to his father, who lies in the middle of the shrine, on a slightly elevated platform. The coffins of Murtaza, and of his brother, Shahnawaz, who died mysteriously of poisoning in a family apartment in France in 1985, lie in one corner of the mausoleum. Bhutto lies next to her father. Their coffins are blanketed with rose petals.

Senior party leaders have said that Zardari is anxious to take the reins of the party organisation and that he had been taken into confidence by his wife on all major party matters. Some among them are worried about the prospects of dissension in the future, though not anytime soon.

In the front courtyard of the house, party supporters speculated on the future of the party under Zardari’s leadership. “He understands every inch of politics in this country,” said Sajjad Sayed, a doctor and PPP supporter who had driven more than six hours from Karachi to offer condolences at the Bhutto family house. “At this juncture, for a year, this party has a chance to be together.”

His friend Mazhar Memon, another doctor from Karachi, offered, “In the long run, it’s a big question mark.”

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