NEWS

Bilawal campaigns for PPP through TV ads

Source:PTI
February 16, 2008 15:10 IST

Slain former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto's teenage son Bilawal may not be in the country to canvass for the PPP, but though an advertisement, he urges Pakistanis to vote for the party and fulfill his mother's dreams of a democratic set up.

With his mother and grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's many portraits forming the perfect backdrop, the newly appointed chairman of the PPP says in a 30-second TV campaign of the Pakistan People's Party -- Zinda hai BB, Zinda Hai (Benazir is still alive).

The PPP advertisements with Bilawal first went on air about three days ago. Before that it was Bhutto's last speech at the historic Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, just a few minutes before she was assassinated in December, that was being played to garner support for the party.

In another advertisement, Bilawal, who is studying history at Oxford University, exhorts people to vote for his mother and fulfill her dreams of a democratic Pakistan.

He signs off with Jamhooriyat hamara intiqaam hain or 'democracy is the best revenge', a line he first used when he was appointed the PPP Chairman three days after his mother's assassination.

Bilawal's father Asif Ali Zardari, who is co-chairman of the PPP, launched his campaign after Bhutto's chehlum or the end of a 40-day period of mourning on February 8.

Bilawal, a health freak and sports enthusiast, became Britain's most high-profile terrorist target after being named chairman of the PPP. The cost of providing a 24-hour armed guard for Bilawal is said to be about one million pounds annually, a fact that Britain's taxpayers are cribbing about.

Source: PTI
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