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January 1, 2008
Students Mourn Bhutto's Loss
Many Pakistani students found it hard to celebrate New Year's Eve last night, just four days after Benazir Bhutto's assassination. In Lahore, students lit candles on the holiday to mourn Bhutto's death.
A fellow student, Bhutto's 19-year-old son Bilawal Zardari, has inherited Bhutto's position as chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. PPP supporters mourn their loss and believed Bhutto to be a strong leader for democracy. But, keeping the succession of PPP leadership in the family is not very democratic. Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari has taken over her role for all intensive purposes and their son will take over when he graduates from college in three years. And of course Bhutto inherited her position from her father when he was executed in 1979.
While the family may have PPP supporters' trust, it all seems a bit monarchical. Not to mention a cloud of corruption and controversy surrounding Bhutto and her husband.
But, our own democracy seems to support aspects of an heir system. Our current president was the son of a former president, and one of the top presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party is the wife of a former president. Is keeping it in the family really the best for any country that needs change? An important question to consider, because Pakistan is certainly a country that needs change.
Sumedha Sood is a 2007 fellow in the Academy for Alternative Journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. The former assistant editor at the Center for American Progress, she is a frequent contributor to WireTap and AlterNet.org.