Benazir Bhutto's book

Launched just before the election, Benazir Bhutto's book has inevitably re-focussed attention on many issues. Aside from the questions of extremism, and the allegations regarding the failure of the government to grant her security, the high-profile booklaunch has also brought to the forefront matters regarding the future of the PPP. In immediate terms, the prospects seem promising, with two recent opinion polls putting the PPP in leading place as elections approach. The offer from the PML-N, made during a meeting between Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari in Lahore, of support for the PPP in forming a government without seeking any share in ministries, make things seem even brighter for the party. An understanding of any kind between the two groups would be a powerful one, with latest surveys suggesting the PML-N is set to gather a fair share of votes and seats.




But in the longer term, the questions that arise are more difficult to answer. While Benazir, in her book, touches on many critical concerns, including those of terror and relations between Islam and the west, the task of solving these problems is no easy one. Most immediately, any government would have to find means to improve the precarious security situation in the country, and nothing that the PPP's leadership has said so far gives any indication that it has a viable strategy to achieve this.



The launching of the book, on a date that is also marked as Pakistan Women's Day, brought in many glowing tributes for Benazir. But these words of praise also provided a reminder that Pakistan has lost a leader who will not easily be replaced. Certainly, within the PPP, no one at present carries the same intellectual weight or the same charisma. Her last piece of writing will then serve as a reminder of what Benazir stood for -- and also of the grave political problems Pakistan and, indeed, the world, face today.