Scion of Pakistan’s Bhutto dynasty throws down gauntlet to PM

NAUDERO, Pakistan, (Reuters) – The scion of Pakistan’s leading political dynasty, emerging from the shadow of his mother and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto seven years after she was assassinated, has vowed to resurrect her party’s flagging fortunes.

In the first interview since his political “coming out” at a weekend gathering of hundreds of thousands of supporters, Oxford-educated Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told Reuters that he planned a series of rallies in a challenge to Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

“Like any politician, like the head of any political party we are looking to expand our vote bank, make gains, gain more seats,” the 26-year-old said in his hometown of Naudero in southern Pakistan late on Wednesday.

“And therefore I will be looking to do that in every way possible,” said Bhutto, wearing a blue blazer over a traditional white shawal kameez shirt.

His Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ruled the country from 2008 to 2013, but it became tarnished by a series of confrontations with the powerful Supreme Court over corruption scandals.

After people became disillusioned with its image and policies, it was voted out in a landmark election last year that was the first time in Pakistan’s short but turbulent history that one elected civilian government replaced another.

The emergence of Bhutto as an opposition leader comes at an opportune time for the PPP and is likely to be a worry for Sharif.