The political party of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has chosen her son and her husband to succeed her as joint party leaders.
The Pakistan People's Party appointed Bhutto's 19-year old son, Bilawal as its new chairman and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as co-chairman. The party made the appointments Sunday at a meeting in Bhutto's ancestral homeland of Naudero in southern Pakistan.
The PPP also announced it will participate in parliamentary elections now scheduled for January eighth. The party of opposition leader Nawaz Sharif said earlier today it would review its planned boycott of the elections if Bhutto's party decided to take part.
Also today, a senior official with Pakistan's ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League, said the national vote is likely to be delayed by 12 weeks.
At a news conference after the PPP meeting, Bilawal Bhutto vowed to avenge his mother's killing by continuing her struggle for democracy. His father called for a United Nations investigation of the assassination.
Bilawal is a law student at Britain's Oxford University with no prior political experience. He went into exile with his mother in 1999 and divided his time between Britain and Dubai. He returned to Pakistan to attend her funeral on Friday.
Pakistan's Election Commission is due to hold an emergency meeting Monday to decide when the national vote will take place.
Pakistani authorities say at least 44 people have been killed in rioting since Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
