PPP Opts For “Dynasty-Based” Succession; Bilawal, Zardari To Lead Party
Benazir Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, has been named as her successor to the Pakistan People’s Party leadership; Zardari subsequently appointed their 19 year old son, Bilawal, as party chairperson. According to Bloomberg, Zardai and Bilawal will run the party as “co-chairpersons”, with BBC News reporting that Bilawal “will take the role [of party leader] in a ceremonial capacity while he finishes his studies at Oxford University.”
Benazir Bhutto’s Son To Be Named New PPP Leader: TIME
A senior official of Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) told TIME late Saturday that the slain former prime minister’s 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will likely be named as her political heir and the new party leader on Sunday. PPP members are due to meet to discuss the party’s future and to give Bilawal, a student at Oxford, a chance to read his mother’s last will and testament.
A Pakistani television news channel also carried reports that Bilawal will be made the new leader, which the channel said accorded with Benazir Bhutto’s wishes. If confirmed, the teenager will become the third leader of the 40-year-old center-left party, one of Pakistan’s most powerful. Bilawal will follow his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who founded the PPP in 1967, led Pakistan as Prime Minister for four years in the mid 1970s and was hanged in 1979 by a military government, and Benazir, who took over from her father and was killed in a shooting and suicide bomb attack two days ago.
In Other News, Rumour Has It Gordon Brown Likes To “Go Commando”
Sylvia @ Problem Chylde has compiled an exhaustive, must read collection of Bhutto-related links, including this unfortunate post from Moe @ Jezebel (yes, Jezebel *sigh*):
So, was Musharraf, who’d just grudgingly conceded to share power with Bhutto and give up his army leadership position, behind the hit? That’s what conspiracy theorists inside my kitchen seem to believe. But then you’ve gotta wonder how he did it. Did Mr. Enemy of Terrorism Musharraf contract out a suicide bomber from Al Qaeda Inc.? Or does the Pakistani Army have a top-secret suicide unit, and if so, what do you have to do to get yourself enlisted in that? Josh Foust, of Registan.net and “That’s So Jane’s!” columns of yore says the theory doesn’t make sense. “She works much better as an opponent than as a martyr” for Musharraf, he claims. CNN seems to be focused on the question of what happens next: will they invoke military rule? (Isn’t that what you would do?)
Pakistan Update: Of Gunfire, Grassy Knolls and Bumped Heads
The word of the day is ‘conspiracy’. As in ‘conspiracy theories‘. Consider the waters thoroughly muddied:
An elusive Taliban leader with links to Al Qaeda is emerging as the key suspect in Thursday’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto, killed as she campaigned for a third term as Pakistan’s prime minister.
Intelligence services in Pakistan and the West yesterday identified Baitullah Mehsud, a 34-year-old pro-Taliban militant commander, as the man behind the plot to kill Bhutto, leader of the popular Pakistan Peoples Party, in the run-up to Jan. 8 elections in the nuclear-armed nation.
Yesterday, Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, cited an intercepted telephone conversation between Mehsud and one of his operatives as proof the terrorist organization was responsible.
“We have an intercept from this morning in which he congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act,” Cheema said.
“We have irrefutable evidence that Al Qaeda and its networks are trying to destabilize the government,” he added. “They have been systematically attacking our government, and now a political icon.”
I’m Off!
Tomorrow at five in the morning, the airport shuttle is going to come around and pick me and my family up and drop us off at the airport. From there we will be flying back to the land my wife and I once called home, sunny California where we will be staying until the 9th of January.
I don’t think I need to say how I won’t be able to blog, especially after my wife tells me that I’m not bringing my laptop on the trip. Still, I’m going to try very hard to get up and running on someone’s computer for the Jan 3rd Iowa Caucus, though the New Hampshire Caucus I freely admit to not being able to report on as at that time I will be in Disneyland with my daughters.
Democracy Murdered in Pakistan
As everyone knows by now, Benazir Bhutto was tragically assasinated in Pakistan today. Despite the efforts of Pervez Musharaff and his ruling party to game the upcoming January election, Bhutto stood an excellent chance of winning any fair count of the vote.
The American right is desperately spinning to blame Al Qaeda and to distance Musharaff from responsibility for the assassination (ignoring the possibility of the complicity of both). President Bush immediately ran to Musharaff’s death and blamed “extremists.” Quite a different view than his usual demand that we await investigations to determine the truth about almost everything else.
The best discussion on the web is taking place at The Newshoggers. Check out the great discussion between Cernig and Shamanic as well as a slew of interesting comments.
Happy Holidays (and All That Other Such Stuff)
Look, just because I’m a Catholic doesn’t mean I’m going to run down the street lookin’ to scream “Merry Christmas” into the face of the next Jew or Muslim to come along.
Here’s wishin’ that you and yourn get your thang on tomorrow. Me and mines will be celebrating Christmas.
The Wheel Falls Off
More evidence of satire’s untimely demise:
Read more
Obey.
Someone’s slip is showing:
Read more
A Stunning Incident In The UK
“International” isn’t just corporate hyperbole:
Read more
Obama Clinton Momentum Continues
Another poll, this one USA Today/Gallup, shows Barack Obama pulling even with front runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is well in keeping with polling trends of late that began with Iowa falling to Obama, and showing both South Carolina and New Hampshire both beginning significant trending away from Mrs. Clinton.
Richardson No Longer Running For Hillary Veep
Well, I guess that about settles it. Bill Richardson’s no longer running as Hillary Clintons running mate to be, or so it would seem.
Are There Any Questions About How Ron Paul Feels About His Nuttier Supporters?
I haven’t been following it that closely. If you want more in depth reporting on Ron Paul and some of his nuttier supporters, I suggest you check out Mark over at Publius Endures who has done more than a few posts tracking the Ron Paul brigade. But when I talk about nutty Ron Paul supporters, I’m not talking about the creepy folks who could be mistaken for extras in a zombie flick. No, we’re talking about White Supremacist groups like Stormfront, who have a nice “Ron Paul for President” plastered in giant letters at the bottom of their homepage.
It has been Ron Paul’s unwillingness to distance himself from these folks that has become a central storyline to his campaign, as well as the phenomenal fundraisers, and eerie internet cult. But if you are interested in just how unwilling he is to separate himself, just take a gander at this.
Boston Herald Endorses McCain
I’m not a regular, or even occasional reader of the Boston Herald, and so I had no preconceived notions as to its general bias. This is important because after reading their endorsement of Senator John McCain, I wanted to know if it was always a right leaning rag, or if the editors were simply under a hex or something. Ah, yes, in 1982, it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, that might explain things a little.
Tancredo’s Surprise
Congressman Tom Tancredo is no longer a presidential candidate. That’s not much of a surprise. Ever since he announced that he had a major announcement to make at 2pm, speculation instantly pointed to the possibility that the anti-immigration warrior was going to hop out the race.
Who he chose to endorse, however, is a bit of a shocker.
McCain vs. The New York Times
It would seem to be a good time for John McCain right about now. His poll numbers are slowly creeping up, there are whispers among political wonks that he might be able to pull off a New Hampshire upset which could possibly put him right back in the hunt, and with the topsy turvy nature of the rest of the field, with Giuliani plummeting, Romney stalling, and the very unlikely Huckabee buoyed on a voter bubble that could pop any second now, there is definitely room for the old Maverick to sneak on through the frontrunner turmoil.
Everything seems to slowly turning his way. Or is it?
Attack Sites
I know. The Clinton/Obama fight has gotten pretty rough, with most of the mud coming from the Clinton side of the trenches. But if you thought things had delved into the depths of absurdity already, boy were you wrong.