Pakistan: Aseefa Bhutto enters politics, files nomination papers for by-polls

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, the youngest daughter of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and slain premier Benazir Bhutto, has taken a plunge into the country's tumultuous politics by filing her candidacy for the by-poll at a National Assembly seat in Sindh Province vacated by her father.

Aseefa, 31, has been active in politics for some time but was kept away from parliamentary politics by her father Zardari, also the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), until an opportune time.

Following her father’s inauguration as the 14th president of Pakistan, Aseefa is poised to become the First Lady, a position traditionally held by the spouse of the president.

Aseefa submitted nomination papers on Sunday in the bye-election for the NA-207 constituency of Shaheed Benzirabad district in the Sindh province.

Her father and president, Asif Ali Zardari, won the seat but vacated it after becoming president.

Aseefa has a resemblance to her mother, who was killed in a bombing and suicide attack in 2007 in Rawalpindi. Aseefa was then a teenager and suffered more emotionally as compared to her two elder siblings, Bakhtawar and Bilawal.

Bilawal, a former foreign minister, is the chairperson of the PPP.

It may be the reason that she was driven closer to her father, who, after becoming president, designated her the First Lady.

Although her 35-year-old brother Bilawal had already taken over the party, Aseefa is considered a natural heir to her mother, who took over the party after her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979 due to alleged involvement in a murder case.

The bye-elections will be held on April 21, and Aseefa is almost sure to win. By becoming part of the parliament, she would strengthen her party and also family politics.

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