Bilawal tries to reclaim the legacy of his mother

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New York Times, Pakistan :Seven years ago, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan after a decade in exile to a boisterous welcome from hundreds of thousands of her followers. Over the weekend, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 26, tried to reclaim the legacy of his mother with a huge rally in the southern port city of Karachi.Thousands of party loyalists dressed in party colors of red, black and green gathered on the vast lawns in front of the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the country’s founding leader, dancing to party anthems and chanting slogans of support for the young party leader.The rally was an attempt by the Oxford-educated Bhutto Zardari to capture the popular imagination and revive the sagging fortunes of his political party, the Pakistan Peoples Party, which was battered in the 2013 general elections after completing a five-year term in power, tainted by allegations of corruption and ineptitude. The party has been swept from the national stage and now wields power only on the provincial level, and in just one province, Sindh, where the party has had its power base for decades.

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