Bhutto Husband & Son Picked to Head Party

Election likely to be delayed up to 8 weeks
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2007 8:16 AM CST
Bhutto Husband & Son Picked to Head Party
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto mourn at the grave of their leader in Garhi Khuda Bakhash near Larkana, Pakistan on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007. Pakistan rejected an outside investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, despite controversy over the circumstances of...   (Associated Press)

As violence continued to flare in Pakistan following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, officials indicated that Jan. 8 elections will likely be postponed six to eight weeks, Reuters reports. Officials from Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, meanwhile, picked her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and 19-year-old son, Bilawal, to take over party leadership.

Bhutto reportedly named Bilawal in her will as her chosen successor to head the party, but also suggested that her husband serve as a kind of regent to him until Bilawal, a student at Oxford, is old enough to lead alone. The PPP was also overwhelmingly in favor of taking part in the general election. (More Pakistan stories.)

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