Published: February 10, 2008
THATTA, Pakistan — Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, opened her party's election campaign on Saturday with a huge rally in her home province, Sindh, in a bid to sweep the party into power on her legacy and her martyrdom.
In Sindh Province, tens of thousands of people streamed into a stadium on the edge of this town, vowing to keep Ms. Bhutto's memory alive and seek revenge at the ballot box for her death. It was an immense show of support for her Pakistan Peoples Party and the Bhutto name.
"She lives! Bhutto lives!" they chanted, waving flags and throwing their hands in the air. "Long live Bhutto!" In the crowd were mostly farmers and laborers, the traditional working class supporters of the party.
"Her martyrdom has filled us with a new spirit and we will take her revenge through our votes," said Muhammad Soomar Bhanbhro, 23.
Mr. Zardari, who has taken on the role of co-chairman with his 19-year-old son, Bilawal, since his wife's assassination on Dec. 27, spoke almost entirely about her and her legacy.
He has hinted that he could run for prime minister in the future — he is not a candidate in this election under Pakistan's parliamentary system — and he stressed in his speech that she left him with a mission to fulfill.
"I am listening to her voice from Liaquat Bagh," he said, referring to her last speech at the park in Rawalpindi where she was killed. "I am listening to my wife saying the people gave me responsibility, what to do in life."
"My friends, I have a great treasure from Benazir Bhutto that is her training of me and her son and her daughters. I have her thoughts and ideas which are for you now," he said. "My wife gave her life for you people, and I also will serve my people like Benazir. My son has dedicated his life for you, and my daughters will give their lives to you."
And he raged at her killers with a popular saying: "How many Bhuttos will you kill? However many, from every house, a Bhutto will come."
Party supporters openly blamed President Pervez Musharraf's government for her death. One of the most catchy slogans at the rally was a play on the name of the "Q League," the party that has governed for five years under Mr. Musharraf, calling it the "Killer League."
"The present government is the enemy of the poor," said Hajji Gandro, 20, whose family owns a farm. Mr. Musharraf was "utterly useless," he said. He is not a friend. He is an enemy of us Sindhis."
Basar Khan, 46, a farmhand, said, "He's been here for 10 years and not provided us with any jobs."
Wearing sequined caps and turbans, their faces like leather from the harsh southern sun, the workers interviewed said they supported the Pakistan Peoples Party for the socialist agenda of its founder, Ms. Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. While in power, the Bhutto family did a lot for the region, building up industry and providing jobs, they said.
"That family has put its blood into the foundations of the poor," said one laborer, Muhammad Brohi, 36. "They killed her because she wanted to serve the poor and she had come back from abroad to work for the improvement of the country."
With the 40-day mourning period ended, the party is throwing itself into 10 days of campaigning across the country before the Feb. 18 vote, which will elect a national and provincial assemblies.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, the largest party with a fully national following, is expected to benefit from a huge sympathy vote, and is hoping to form the next government. Although it may not win an outright majority, it is at least expected to play a part in the government.
"People understand she died for democracy," Shagufta Jumani, a parliamentary candidate, said of Ms. Bhutto. "People are saying she died for the common man, for ourselves." She said she expected the party to win votes from beyond its core supporters, from what she called the "silent majority" who recognized that Ms. Bhutto's killing was unjust.
In northwestern Pakistan, an election rally held by a different opposition group, the Awami National Party, in the town of Charsadda was halted by an explosion. Provincial officials said they believed it was a suicide attack.
"We have 16 confirmed dead, including 3 security personnel, and 25 wounded," said Imtiaz Gillani, information minister for North-West Frontier Province, Reuters reported.
Pakistan's military has been battling with Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in that province and nearby areas in recent months. A militant leader suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda, Baitullah Mehsud, is believed to have been behind many of the attacks, including the one in which Ms. Bhutto was killed.
Lawyers protesting the house arrest of the country's suspended chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and his family clashed with the police in Islamabad.
One of the leaders of the lawyers' movement, Athar Minallah, said he was arrested and beaten over the head by the police. Speaking from a police station where he was still detained Saturday evening, he said the group had been trying to protest the house arrest of Mr. Chaudhry's young son, whom he called the "youngest political prisoner in the world."
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