With President Pervez Musharraf announcing a Scotland Yard investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s death, a team from London was expected to arrive in the country by the weekend

(The Daily Times, January 4). A day after Bhutto’s husband, Asif Zardari, rejected the inquiry, the PPP’s vice-chairperson and prime ministerial candidate Makhdoom Amin Fahim too demanded that it be conducted by a UN commission (The News, January 4). The UN probe into Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination is seen to be a desirable model.

Earlier, with Bhutto’s will read out, Zardari is effectively in charge of the PPP. “Zardari has acted wisely in nominating Bilawal as the formal chairman of the party but retaining command of it,” wrote Najam Sethi in The Friday Times. “Bloodlines are important in Pakistani culture and society; that is why dynasties flourish... But it will be a tough act to follow in Bhutto’s footsteps. She could count on the blind loyalty of people and party but Zardari will have to work very hard to keep the party united in the face of internal and external pressures. In fact, that is the biggest challenge he faces. Zardari has decided to opt for participation in the delayed elections rather than go for agitation to remove President Musharraf. This is a measure of his pragmatism, of which we may expect to see a lot, as much as it is of his rawness to the job. In a similar situation, Bhutto might have extracted more from President Musharraf and conceded less, but then Zardari cannot afford to take such risks so early in the game.”

... contd.