Word: bhutto
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When Benazir Bhutto ’73 returned to deliver a speech to students at Harvard’s Kennedy School in 1997, she said, “I’d just like you all to know how wonderful it is to come back home.” The ovation she received that day drowned the irony in her speech. She had just been dismissed as Prime Minister of Pakistan on corruption charges. Also telling was that this foreign leader considered Harvard, rather than Pakistan, to be her true home...
...through small gatherings in private courtyards, repeating her speeches as many as five times a day. Between rallies she drives in a convoy of SUVs, flanked by security guards brandishing guns decorated with stickers of her face. A pickup with speakers affixed to the roof blasts a recording of Bhutto's last speech, the one she gave at an election rally just minutes before she was killed...
...weeks after the assassination of Bhutto, that mission has become a sacred trust, and for candidates such as Hussain campaigning on the PPP ticket, a potent political boon. Analysts, diplomats and politicians are expecting a large PPP sympathy vote on February 18, when Pakistanis go to the polls in an election that very well could lead to the ouster of President Pervez Musharraf, if the opposition wins a majority in parliament. "It's all about Benazir now," says Hussain. "After the 27th, I am much less relevant. It sounds terrible, but the death of Benazir has increased our chances...
This Thursday will mark 40 days since the death of Bhutto, and the end of the traditional Islamic mourning period. Asif Zardari, Bhutto's husband and appointed co-chair of the party, will launch the national campaign a day later. But due to restrictions on large gatherings, historically the PPP's most fertile vote earner, the onus falls on candidates such as Hussain to keep Bhutto relevant. Hussain's speeches are filled with fiery condemnations of Musharraf, whom she blames for Bhutto's death, despite the fact that both the government and the CIA have fingered al-Qaeda affiliated militants...
...party rather than the candidate. It is having limited success. Analysts estimate that only one-third of PPP votes in the last election were for the party, which is why candidates such as Hussain can switch parties yet maintain their vote bank. This year, the death of Bhutto may be the catalyst that turns hundreds of local elections into a real national movement. In Lalian (which had a PPP representative who then switched over to Musharraf), it already seems to be working. "The politicians come here and promise us everything," says Abdul Khaliq, a teacher at Hussain's last rally...