Bhutto's son, 19, new party chair?

[Gary_Yngve]

I don't understand how Bhutto's party could annoint her 19-year-old son as chairman of the party, unless it's completely symbolic. At 19, there's no way anyone has enough experience to lead a whole party. Sounds to me like they're more royalty than democracy.

[murraysovereign]

I think it's just a deliberate attempt to confuse the suicide bombers. Benazir handed the reins to her husband, who doesn't want to get blown up. Their son is only 19, so he's not legally allowed to run for office. So make him chairman of the party because it's purely symbolic, and let the father run the party even though he's officially handed control to his son. So, as a suicide bomber, do you blow up the "chairman" who, legally, can't actually do anything, or do you blow up his father who, officially, isn't actually in charge of anything? See? It's not so easy, is it?

 

Besides, in a society still largely directed by tribal loyalties, there's nothing wrong with trying to maintain a family dynasty, or at least the appearance of one. If you want people to vote for the PPP it's going to be helpful to have a Bhutto on the campaign poster, regardless of who the actual party leaders are.

[TREETOAD]

Perhaps at 19, he will be quick enough to dodge the bullets

[ZimZam]

I just don't see him surviving the process. Not so much the assassination attempts, but the backstabbing that is so much a part of any political machine. He will be ineffectual at best.

 

On another note. I listened to a Pakistani questioning Bhutto's decision to expose herself, if after all she was wary of the security situation and credible threats reports. The comments raise some interesting questions. Was she setting herself up for martyrdom?

[Bigtree]

Being a chip of the old block, the kid is likely just as corruptible as his parents. If so, the party should love it.

[archenemy]

Funny how in America, we idolize youth and consider kids the epitome of existance. We think its cool when they serve as CEOs of multimillion dollar IT companies and make expensive movies with them in mind as the main driver of sales. Ads seem to all contain kids under twenty.

But when some other country uses a youngster as a figure head, we get all confused. I love it.

[Bug]

The average American has less knowledge of the American system of government than the average 6th grader in Britain.

A sharp 19 yr old in Pakistan can probably run circles around most US Congressional freshmen. Don't under-estimate him and his family support system. He offers more hope than his father imo.