NAUDERO: An angry and deeply wounded Pakistan People’s Party on Sunday decided to fight back under a new leadership, naming the 19-year-old son of Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Zardari, the chairman of the party and his father Asif Ali Zardari as the co-chairman. Bilawal Zardari was simultaneously renamed Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the occasion. The party also declared that it would go into the polls on Jan 8 and would resist all attempts to delay them.

“We will take our revenge through the polls as democracy is the best revenge,” Asif Zardari, and earlier Bilawal, quoted the late Benazir Bhutto at a crowded news conference after a five-hour session of the party’s Central Executive Committee chaired by Makhdoom Amin Faheem.

Flanked by Asif Zardari and Makhdoom Amin Faheem, the young Bilawal read out a brief statement, in confident tones, surprising the national and international media, accepting the unanimous CEC decision to become the party chairman in place of his mother.

The decision to elect Bilawal as chairman was taken by his father, as the late Ms Bhutto had nominated Asif Ali Zardari as the party chairman in her will which she had signed on October 16, 2007, two days before returning to Pakistan.

Bilawal, however, told a questioner that he would go back to complete his education at Oxford University and his father would look after the party affairs.

The media was not allowed to ask any more questions from the young Bilawal because of his grief and his tender age. Sources said when he was reading out the will of his mother about the party succession, he broke down in tears and so did the entire CEC of the party.

The party leadership was also present at the news conference which turned into a party rally as Asif Zardari repeatedly described the PML-Q as the “Qaatil League” (Killer League) indirectly blaming the former ruling party for its leader’s death.

Significantly, Zardari did not name President Musharraf directly in his news conference but repeatedly referred to the e-mail Benazir Bhutto had sent to Mark Siegel in Washington putting the blame on General Musharraf in case she was killed in Pakistan. The e-mail was sent to Wolf Blitzer of CNN and after she died, CNN did a special report on that message.

Mr Zardari again and again referred to that message and said it was available on the internet for all to read. “We would launch an FIR once the UN and UK complete their investigation and we know who to blame,” he said.

Asked whether he would take an anti- or pro-establishment line as PPP co-chairman, Zardari said he would follow the policies of late Benazir Bhutto, indicating that he would continue with the soft approach towards the regime.

However, Asif Ali Zardari, who took charge of party affairs immediately, took a very strong stand on the investigations into the Bhutto assassination and totally rejected all government inquiries, saying the party had decided to call for a UN probe on the lines of the probe into the death of Rafiq al Hariri of Lebanon.

“We will ask the UN and the UK governments to launch such a probe as we cannot trust the investigations and autopsies carried out by the government,” Zardari said.

Asked whether he had disallowed an autopsy on Ms Bhutto’s body, Zardari angrily retorted that he could not submit a national leader to the indignity of being torn apart by government people. “Who would accept their report and their tests. She could not be subjected to such disrespect.”

The mood at the press conference was somber and defiant with workers raised repeated slogans in favour of of Bhutto and Benazir as well as showing full support to Bilawal and Asif Zardari.

Party sources said the new chairman had asked all the CEC members to stay on in Naudero on Monday as the party leadership was fearing that the government may postpone the polls following the PPP decision to contest them on Jan 8.

“We appeal to the PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif to withdraw his decision to boycott the polls, which he took in solidarity with the PPP,” Asif Zardari said thanking the PML-N chief for his gesture.

Analysts said the mood at the PPP CEC meeting and afterwards was one of defiance but almost every leader wanted to go into the elections on time, except Raza Rabbani, the leader of opposition in the Senate, and two other Sindh leaders who argued that the party should not go for early polls.

Agencies add: Asif Zardari appealed for calm and peace in the country, following a wave of violence sparked by Bhutto’s death that left at least 38 people dead and property worth billions of rupees damaged.

Zardari said that Ms Bhutto was unprecedented both in life and in death. She faced various ups and downs in her life and was well aware of her enemies.

He said that name of Bhutto will never end with PPP, and had his son titled as Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

He also appealed to the masses to make the PPP successful and realize the dream of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

He paid rich tribute to all those who lost their lives on 27th December 2007 at Liaqat Bagh. “They were my Punjabi brothers and friends, whom I had befriended when I was serving in Jail,” he said.

Asif Ali Zardari has also demanded free, fair and transparent elections and warned that if attempts were made to rig the polls, PPP would launch a countrywide movement on 9th January.

Tahir Hasan Khan adds from Karachi: The members of the Central Executive Committee, Federal Council and other leaders also endorsed unanimously the ‘will’ of the late party chairperson who had written it before returns to Pakistan on 18 October.

Sources said that Sanam Bhutto, daughter of late party chairman late ZA Bhutto, the last survivor of Bhutto family was also supported the nomination of Bilawal Bhutto as PPP chairman.

Insiders said that some family members played key role in coming out the party from the crisis of selection of new party chairman. Sources said Sanam was consulted before the meeting and she gave her complete consent for Bilawal, son of her late sister. Earlier, she was asked to come into politics and control the party but she did not agree and declared that she would support Bilawal as party chief.

Sources said backdoor channels through family members were successful and Sanam agreed on Bilawal.

Sources said that the change in the name of Bilawal was decided before the meeting and Bhutto was included in his name and later it was informed to party leaders that the name of new chairman is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.