Bhutto’s Son Tries to Revive the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Fortunes --- ISLAMABAD, 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 Mr. 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. -- Mr. Bhutto Zardari has a tough task in rebuilding his party. Highlighting the challenge was a poor showing in a by-election in the central city of Multan last week in which the P.P.P.’s candidate came in third, drawing only a few thousand votes. The winner of the election was an independent candidate supported by the opposition politician Imran Khan, a charismatic former cricket player. -- Mr. Khan, who has since mid-August been one of the leaders of a protest in the capital, Islamabad, against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is fast gaining momentum as a challenger to Mr. Sharif. He has been drawing huge crowds in rallies across the country, especially in Punjab, the most populous and prosperous province, which determines the political future of any political party here. -- Mr. Khan is calling for fresh elections, claiming that Mr. Sharif came to power after a rigged electoral process, and tapping into a widespread feeling of discontent with the government. - Read More, NYTimes, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/world/asia/bhuttos-son-tries-to-revive-the-pakistan-peoples-partys-fortunes.html?ref=world&_r=0