Vol. 72/No. 2      January 14, 2008

The Bush administration is using the assassination to push Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf to do more in the “war against terrorism.” His regime has blamed al-Qaeda for the killing. Leaders of the main opposition parties have accused the government of a cover-up, and a possible hand in the killing.

Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was killed December 27 when assailants attacked her motorcade following a rally in Rawalpindi. Her 19-year-old son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has been named as her successor and chairman of the PPP. Her husband Asif Ali Zardari is cochairman.

Widespread protests against the assassination that erupted in major cities and in Bhutto’s home province of Sindh have largely ended. During the protests hundreds of banks, police stations, rail terminals, and factories were burned. Musharraf issued orders to security forces that “all measures” should be used to halt the protests.

Bhutto’s death has further complicated efforts by Washington and capitalist forces in Pakistan to cobble together a coalition government that is stable enough to be a more effective ally in the U.S. government’s “global war on terror.”

Bhutto’s PPP is the largest political party in Pakistan. Another bourgeois opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), is led by Nawaz Sharif, also a former prime minister. Both he and Bhutto come from wealthy ruling class families. Both had been forced out of office on charges of corruption and brokered deals to go into exile. A group calling itself Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) split from Sharif in 2002 and has been the backbone of Musharraf’s political support.

The U.S. government had urged Musharraf to seek a coalition government with Bhutto and others in the capitalist opposition to counter advances by armed groups backed by al-Qaeda on both sides of Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Since Bhutto’s death officials at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad have made overtures to Sharif, reported the New York Times.

PPP leaders rejected December 30 statements by Pakistani government officials that the elections could be postponed for at least a month. Sharif has also opposed any postponement, but one of his spokesman said that a short postponement “would be acceptable.” Sharif had called for a boycott of the elections but switched after meeting at the Bhutto family estate.

Sharif and the Bhuttos calculate that a vote held sooner after Benazir Bhutto’s death will result in a larger vote for the opposition. Musharraf undoubtedly fears the same.

In condemning the killing of Bhutto, U.S. ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalizad stressed the importance Washington placed on piecing together a coalition government in Pakistan. Khalizad called on “moderates” to “come together to present a united front against extremism and terror.”

Democratic and Republican candidates have also used the assassination to emphasize their qualifications to conduct the war on terror. Senator John McCain defended Musharraf as having “done a pretty good job” as an ally in fighting terrorism. Senator Barack Obama said U.S. military aid to Pakistan should be cut unless Musharraf gets “serious” about fighting al-Qaeda.

NATO officials have urged Musharraf to continue military cooperation against armed Islamist groups along the border with Afghanistan. Since October the Pakistani military has been conducting a major military operation against Islamists in the Swat region, using artillery and aerial bombardment along with thousands of troops.

Meanwhile thousands of Pakistanis have fled the Swat region as the military continued operations against Islamist groups, which have responded with sporadic suicide car bombings against Pakistani troops.  
 
 
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