Stability Key Goal Shared by Top Rivals in Pakistan

In the wake of the assassination of Pakistan People's Party leader Benazir Bhutto, stability seems to be the key goal among top rivals in secular political leadership. The PPP has announced that in keeping with Ms. Bhutto's wishes, her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, a 19-year-old student at Christ Church College, Oxford, will take the helm of the party, with her husband, Bilawal's father, managing day-to-day affairs until Bilawal finishes his studies.

The Bhutto family has run the PPP since its founding, by Benazir's father, and the move appears to be an attempt to assure supporters that the movement will have continuity of personality and of vision. Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal's father, has called for the United Nations to launch a special investigatory commission to uncover the plotters behind the assassination, as several opposition leaders and foreign officials say the Musharraf government lacks the credibility to carry out the probe.

The risk of severe destabilization across Pakistan has been evidenced by ongoing violence, bloodshed and arson, in what many have called a collective "outpouring of grief and anger" on the part of Bhutto supporters and those who blame rival factions for the plot. Pres. Musharraf has said he will not tolerate further violence, but a crackdown has not come, and he has reportedly told UK PM Gordon Brown he will consider international help in probing the killing.

Aides close to Bhutto and to opposition rival, fmr. PM Nawaz Sharif, have said they believe the plot may have originated inside the government itself, and for this reason, the government should not be permitted to lead the investigation. In response to calls from the PPP leadership to drop its boycott of the scheduled January elections, Sharif's party has reversed its position and said it will participate in the campaign, which many are still saying should be postponed to ensure a "free and fair" election.