Bhutto Dead, Nepotism Lives On
I’ve been pretty quiet cause of school work, work and vacation. The Bhutto assassination, while not surprising, is obviously depressing. Some how though, this made me even more depressed.
Who is chosen to lead Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s party? Her 19-year old son and her husband. Apparently it was in Bhutto’s will that her son should take over leadership. Although her husband will act as a caretaker until he is older and finished college (he’s a student at Oxford).
This is one of the main short-comings of “democratic” politics in Pakistan. The nepotism aspect of really hampers the development of independent institutions that a stable democracy needs. The judiciary branch was beginning to establish itself as that, but that has be derailed. Real political parties need to be more than one person or one family. Otherwise they just become vehicles for patronage and corruption.
Anand Varghese on 01 Jan 2008 at 12:12 am #
In much the same way that Bhutto’s assassination didn’t surprise Danny, the nomination of her son surprises me even less. Familial nepotism has been a common affliction in the subcontinent. With the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty (Jawaharlal, Indira, Rajiv, and Sonia), and Bhutto’s own, the politics of the subcontinent in the post-Colonial era has crystallized around the power of family names. However, I do feel that Bhutto’s death may succeed in creating a sympathy wave (much like the one for Rajiv Gandhi after the death of Indira). If free elections do happen, then such a wave could create sufficient momentum to fully unseat Musharraf. But the IF of free elections remains a large one.
Ali Imtiaz on 09 Jan 2008 at 7:21 am #
I am thankful that Bangladesh is somewhat heading a different direction than it’s neighbours. It’s good to see 2 leaders locked up for good who preaches but never practised democracy in their life.