Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party Assassinated at Rally

Pakistan's Political Future Hangs in the Balance as Conspiracy Theories Abound

Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated earlier this morning, 12-27-07. As the world speculates about the impact her untimely death will have on national as well as international politics, it is a worthwhile endeavor to get to know the woman behind the position of opposition leader.

Born on 06-21-1953, Benazir Bhutto showed very early on that she was destined for political endeavors. Educated at catholic institutions in Karachi, she began her advanced education in the United States. Graduating in 1973 from Harvard University with a political science degree, she moved on to Oxford University and earned a graduate degree in politics, philosophy and economics. Perhaps the most shaping event of her political life took place upon her return to Pakistan in 1977: her father - former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who would be executed in 1979 by then acting President General Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq - requested her to contest local assembly elections and even though she only worked in an advisory role, her course in local politics was fixed.

Sent to the United Kingdom in exile, she became active with the Pakistan Peoples Party which was founded in 1967 by her father. Soon attaining leadership within the party, the socialist movement worked to better the lives of women and others who were oppressed or experienced violations of their rights by the ruling figures. Ms. Bhutto's rise to national politics occurred in November of 1988 when in the first elections since her father's execution the party received an unprecedented number of seats within Pakistan's national assembly, and she no longer was just in a leadership position but the actual Prime Minister of Pakistan.