Links And Info About Benazir Bhutto And Pakistan

With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, here are some links to bloggers and other sources of information in Pakistan and some information about that nation.

Here is a link to a homepage linking to a large number of Pakistani bloggers.

Here is the blog All Things Pakistan.

Here is the blog The Insider Brief.

Here is a collection of blog reactions to Ms. Bhutto’s death.  

Here is a link to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Here is the link to the Pakistan People’s Party. This was Ms. Bhutto’s party. 

Here is a link to a rundown of political parties in Pakistan.  

Here is an obituary for Ms. Bhutto from the BBC.

Here is some American liberal opinion on the situation in Pakistan from The Nation magazine.  

Ms. Bhutto was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was President of Pakistan in the 1970’s. In 1979 he was hanged.   

The following is some basic information about Pakistan from The Economist:

Background:The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was founded in 1947. East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) seceded in 1971. Since independence there have been several military coups in Pakistan. The latest took place in October 1999, when the government of Nawaz Sharif was overthrown. The chief of army staff, General Pervez Musharraf, became the chief executive of Pakistan and, in June 2001, the president. He was re-elected as president in October 2007. A general election took place in October 2002, with the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-i-Azam) emerging as the largest party in parliament.

Political structure: The prime minister heads the cabinet, but the president chairs the powerful National Security Council, which comprises military chiefs and cabinet members. The president can also dismiss the prime minister, the cabinet and parliament. The National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) was elected in October 2002 for a five-year term, but has frequently been adjourned as a result of challenges by the opposition to the legality of General Musharraf’s changes to the political system. An election to the Senate (the upper house), where the four provinces have equal representation, was held in February 2003. Provinces are represented in the National Assembly in proportion to the size of their populations.