Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s death raises the spectre of prolonged political conflict between Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, and the country’s opposition, according to Pakistani and American analysts. How he handles the next several days could determine whether nationwide anti-government protests erupt.

“I see a lot more trouble for Musharraf in the near future,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a leading Pakistani political analyst.

Bhutto’s party, the largest in the country, is now leaderless, and many of its members already blame Musharraf’s government for her death. Musharraf remains deeply unpopular after declaring a state of emergency in November and suppressing Bhutto and his other political opponents.

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif, the country’s other main opposition leader, is scrambling to reorganise his party after years in exile.

Bhutto’s death upends the political landscape in a country that has searched, often in vain, for political stability since it achieved independence 60 years ago.

Pakistani observers pointed out on Thursday that Bhutto was shot a few yards from where the country’s first prime minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, was assassinated in 1951. Since then, military coups, fixed elections and bitter political battles have marred attempts to stabilise the country.

How events unfold in the coming days and weeks lies largely in the hands of Musharraf, Bhutto’s husband and Sharif, according to Pakistani analysts. But it is Musharraf who faces the largest potential threat.

Analysts said the assassination would hurt Musharraf politically and place him in one of the most difficult positions of his turbulent eight years in power.

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