Benazir Bhutto's niece, in an interview published on Saturday, has described as "dangerous" the idea that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) should be led by a member of the family. Fatima Bhutto, 25, is still seen by some in Pakistan as potential heir to the family dynasty, although her cousin, Benazir's son Bilawal, has been named PPP chairman.
Fatima told The Times newspaper here that she might be interested in a career in politics, although would not be "a symbol" for anyone. She denounced the PPP as "desperate to cash in on her (Benazir's) blood". "It's become in a sense the family business, like an antique shop where it's just 'So and So and Sons,' and then grandsons and great-grandsons. It just gets handed down," she said.
"The idea that it has to be a Bhutto, I think, is a dangerous one. "It doesn't benefit Pakistan. "It doesn't benefit a party that's supposed to be run on democratic lines and it doesn't benefit us as citizens if we think only about personalities and not about platforms." At a London press conference earlier this week, Bilawal strongly denied a suggestion from a journalist that his role had been handed down to him "like some piece of family furniture".
Fatima's father was Benazir's younger brother, Murtaza, who was killed in mysterious circumstances in Karachi 12 years ago, while Benazir was in power as prime minister for the second time. Her (Fatima's) side of the family was subsequently locked in a feud with Benazir, but she had joined in the mourning after Benazir's assassination.
"Ultimately, the party workers believe that nobody can head the party but a Bhutto, but I don't think the workers believe that on whomever you put the Bhutto name can lead," Fatima told The Times. "They seem to be a party in a hurry and they seem to be desperate to cash in on her blood.
"There was a certain coterie around her that benefited richly from her government, and they plan, it seems, to benefit richly from her death as well." She called for Benazir's will to be made public, which the PPP says gave Benazir's husband Asif Ali Zardari charge of the party.