Profiles

Profile: Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani prime minister on two occasions, is the charismatic current leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).

Her international image as a popular democratic leader has been battered by persistent allegations of corruption and money laundering.

But a new amnesty on Pakistani politicians signed by Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, has cleared the way for a power-sharing deal.

Benazir Bhutto was born in 1953 in Pakistan's Sindh province. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the country's prime minister in the early 1970s.

She has already held the prime minister's office on two occasions, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996, but both terms ended in dismissal by the president amid allegations of corruption.

Bhutto, who had achieved worldwide popularity for her dynamism, was soon criticised as being a symbol of bad governance and self-serving politics.

Corruption allegations

In 1979, Bhutto was jailed in the wake of a military coup by General Zia ul-Haq, which led to the overthrow of her father, who was later executed.

She was permitted to go to Britain in 1984, where she set up a PPP office and took over the party leadership from her mother, Begum Nusrat Bhutto.

She returned to Pakistan from London in 1986 and won democratic elections just two years later to become Pakistan's first woman prime minister, at the age of 35.

In 1999, both Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari, her husband, were sentenced to five years in jail and fined $8.6 million on charges of taking money from a Swiss company hired to fight customs fraud.

A higher court later overturned the conviction as biased.

And Bhutto insists that all corruption charges against her have been set up by political adversaries.

Return home

Bhutto is due to return to Pakistan on 18 October, in an attempt to cement a power-sharing deal with Pervez Musharraf, the country's president.

It appears that Bhutto will be granted a longer stay in Pakistan than Nawaz Sharif, a political rival who has also spent a long period in exile.

While Bhutto seems to have sealed a political agreement with Musharraf, Sharif was quickly deported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia shortly after his arrival in September.

Bhutto and Musharraf are attempting to manufacture a deal that will fix their political problems.
 
Bhutto seeks a third term as prime minister, which requires changes to Pakistan's constitution, while Musharraf is mindful that the support of Bhutto is integral to his plan to be re-elected as president.

A simple pledge of mutual support has paved the way for Bhutto to return to her home country – while also possibly making a triumphant political comeback.

The PPP remains a popular choice with Pakistani voters, and there is little doubt that she remains a powerful and persuasive figure, despite her protracted exile.

Nonetheless, she has been criticised for her recent secret talks with Pakistan's military.

Some are concerned that genuine democratic standards are being auctioned off as Bhutto courts the army to prepare the ground for her imminent return.

There is little doubt that, while Bhutto remains a popular and effervescent candidate for the Pakistani electorate, she continues to be a polarising figure.