HIGH HOPES REST ON THE SHOULDERS OF PAKISTAN’S YOUNGEST FOREIGN MINISTER
▶ Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 33, is expected to soothe US relations – and revive his dynastic fortunes
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was just 19 when the assassination of his mother catapulted him from carefree student to leader of one of Pakistan’s biggest political parties.
Three days after a Pakistani Taliban bomb killed Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the University of Oxford history student took over as chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Mr Bhutto Zardari’s precocious rise to political prominence has continued with his appointment as the youngest foreign minister in Pakistan’s history – taking one of the most high-profile postings in the new government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at just 33.
The role places Mr Bhutto Zardari on the world stage and at the head of attempts to soothe relations with the US, after former prime minister Imran Khan accused
Washington of plotting to have him removed.
But analysts also see the appointment as a step towards achieving the hopes of the Bhutto family and their party of returning to power.
As the son of Benazir Bhutto, who was twice prime minister, and Asif Ali Zardari, who was president, Bilawal is the epitome of Pakistan’s dynastic political elite. His grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the PPP and was president and prime minister before he was hanged by military dictator Muhammad Zia ul Haq in 1979.
That background, steeped in power and blood, has seen him grow up with great privilege – but also taught him the perils of Pakistan’s life-and-death political arena.
The new post for Mr Bhutto Zardari, who has been long groomed for power, will address criticism that he lacks experience in government, said Bilal Ghani of polling company Gallup Pakistan.
He is perceived to have
performed well as a leader of the centre-left PPP, and appears to have played a role in the machinations to build a coalition to oust Mr Khan.
He has held meetings with Shehbaz Sharif’s elder brother Nawaz Sharif – the ousted three-time prime minister and former leader of the Pakistan Muslim League. These included talks when Nawaz Sharif was in prison in 2019, having been found guilty of corruption.
In terms of governance, however, Mr Bhutto Zardari remains untested.
“In some sense this is a test case for him to show that he is beyond just politics, that he has some administrative credentials as well,” Mr Ghani said.
Mr Bhutto Zardari finds himself in government as part of a coalition of unusual breadth. Parties ranging from leftists to the religious right joined forces against Mr Khan. Keeping them united in the face of an economic crisis and significant grass-roots support for Mr Khan will be difficult.
Pakistan’s other main political dynasty – the Sharifs – are in the ascendancy and competition could erupt between the two families.
Before his appointment, Mr Bhutto Zardari hinted at the egos involved when he admitted his party would find it “difficult to stomach” him working for the Sharif family.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Mr Khan portrays Mr Bhutto Zardari as just a new face to Pakistan’s entitled dynastic elite.
But the PPP leader says he is committed to democracy.
“Criticise nepotism and dynastic politics as much as you want but whoever the people of Pakistan decide, that is what, at the end of the day, should matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PPP will hope that its leader’s new high profile will raise the party’s standing, even if many foreign policy decisions are still decided by Pakistan’s powerful military.
Although the PPP is the third-biggest party in parliament, its support base has retreated towards its south-western Sindh heartland in recent years, Mr Ghani said.
“The party faces a very uphill task in remaining nationally relevant when it comes to elections,” he said.
“Bilawal provides hope of a national vote for the party. It may attract those votes back into the party.”