‘Bhutto brand’However, her government was undercut by military interference and allegations of corruption and despite becoming prime minister twice, she never completed a term.Ousted in 1996, she spent most of the years of Pervez Musharraf’s military dictatorship in self-exile, returning in 2007 to contest another election.But hopes sparked by her return were shattered by her assassination weeks later. Her murder was pinned on jihadists, with a UN investigation accusing Musharraf of failing to provide sufficient security.Less than two weeks before polling day on February 8, Bhutto Zardari rallied the PPP at the spot where she was killed in the city of Rawalpindi.Bilawal was named PPP chairman after his mother’s death but, still just a student, he returned to Oxford University.His father, Asif Ali Zardari, nicknamed “Mr 10 Percent” over the many graft claims against him, took control as the party swept the 2008 elections.But he presided over its decay, fuelled by allegations of corruption and incompetence. Analyst Khawaja said the PPP is now trying to rekindle the “Bhutto brand.””Even if he doesn’t get to be in the position of prime minister right now, he is still a young man,” she said.
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