Islamabad, August 07: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the scion of Pakistan’s most prominent political dynasty, yesterday pulled out of a planned appearance at a rally in Birmingham this weekend which had been heavily trailed as the launch of his full-time political career alongside his father, President Asif Ali Zardari.
Heavy criticism of Mr Zardari’s decision to continue with his trip to Britain despite the emergency created by the flooding in his own country – as well as a rapid rethink about the wisdom of Bilawal entering the fraught world of Pakistani politics at the tender age of 21 – are understood to have prompted the decision to abort the Oxford graduate’s move on to the world stage.
Bilawal, who adopted the family name of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, following her assassination in 2008, had been expected to accept the sole chairmanship of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) at the rally, which was due to be attended by 2,500 British Pakistanis at the International Convention Centre today.
–Agencies