Summary Bilawal Bhutto will formally enter political arena at the occasion of Benazir’s death anniversary.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will make his formal entry into Pakistani politics at an event to be held Thursday to mark the fifth death anniversary of his mother Benazir Bhutto.
"Bilawal will make his entry into active politics during the meeting to be held at Garhi Khuda Bux and take over the PPP s campaign for next year s general elections," said a confidant of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Both 24-year-old Bilawal and his father will make speeches at the event to be held outside the Bhutto family s mausoleum near the PPP s stronghold of Naudero, said the confidant who did not want to be named.
There has been speculation that Zardari might also announce the date for the next general elections at the occasion.
"The President is keeping things close to his chest and he is the person who will make the decision about announcing the date for the polls," the confidant said.
In his speech in Garhi Khuda Bux, Bilawal is also expected to make public a report on the investigation into Benazir Bhutto s assassination.
Bilawal himself cannot contest polls till he turns 25 in September next year.
Zardari, who is the co-chairman of the PPP, has convened a meeting of the party s central executive committee at Naudero on Friday. This meeting is expected to fine-tune the PPP s campaign for the polls, party insiders said.
The PPP s top leadership was mulling a move to elevate former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani to the post of co-chairman but this is now unlikely to happen due to opposition from several leaders, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Law Minister Farooq Naek, sources in the party said.
Gilani is now expected to be the main force in the PPP s campaign in Punjab.
Gilani will also play an important role in the PPP s campaign across the country, the sources said.
