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Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari has been accused of launching a purge of his late wife Benazir Bhutto's closest supporters within his ruling Pakistan People's Party.
Dr Safdar Abbasi, a former close aide to Ms Bhutto, said he and his wife, Naheed Khan, were facing disciplinary action for their public criticism of Mr Zardari's leadership.
The couple were in the car with Ms Bhutto when she was assassinated in Rawalpindi in December 2007 and the former Pakistan prime minister died in Ms Khan's arms after being hit by a sniper's bullet. She had served as the PPP leader's political secretary and had been her closest aide for several decades.
Another senior party figure, former PPP interior minister Aitzaz Ahsan, has been stripped of his Central Executive Committee membership for his role in leading the lawyers' movement to restore the former chief justice who was sacked by former President General Musharraf. He has been charged with breaching party discipline by publicly criticising its failure to reinstate Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice.
Critics of Mr Zardari said he regarded these three Bhutto stalwarts as potential rivals within the party and was moving to neutralise them as a threat.
One source said aides to the Pakistan president had been blamed for leaking the recent false claims of a romance between Ms Bhutto's niece Fatima and Hollywood actor George Clooney to undermine her credibility as a potential future PPP leader. Although estranged from the former PPP leader, Fatima Bhutto has inherited her aunt's striking beauty and charismatic style. Many PPP members believe she should inherit the leadership because she is the granddaughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the PPP founder who was executed by General Zia who ousted him in 1977.
Ms Khan and Dr Abassi have been vocal critics of Mr Zardari since he succeeded his late wife as PPP leader following her assassination. She has accused him of running the party as a 'one-man show', failing to consult his party and abandoning his late wife's political vision.
They believe he has hijacked her party and marginalised those who were closest to his late wife. In the months following Ms Bhutto's assassination, senior aides to Mr Zardari blamed Dr Abassi and Ms Khan for failing to protect her from her assassins despite the fact that neither were involved in her security arrangements.
The couple recently spoke out publicly against Mr Zardari at a press conference in Lahore where they accused him of failing to honour his late wife's promise to reinstate the chief justice.
Sources close to the couple said Mr Zardari had also been angry that they and Aitzaz Ahsan had recently visited his late wife's sister Sanam in London in what he regarded as a plot against his leadership. Despite her deep antipathy for politics, Sanam had earlier been touted by some senior party figures as a potential successor following the assassination.
Dr Safdar Abassi told the Daily Telegraph:"We have not yet been issued notices, but Aitzaz is the first and we will be next in line."
Pakistan president 'purging' Benazir Bhutto supporters - Telegraph
Dr Safdar Abbasi, a former close aide to Ms Bhutto, said he and his wife, Naheed Khan, were facing disciplinary action for their public criticism of Mr Zardari's leadership.
The couple were in the car with Ms Bhutto when she was assassinated in Rawalpindi in December 2007 and the former Pakistan prime minister died in Ms Khan's arms after being hit by a sniper's bullet. She had served as the PPP leader's political secretary and had been her closest aide for several decades.
Another senior party figure, former PPP interior minister Aitzaz Ahsan, has been stripped of his Central Executive Committee membership for his role in leading the lawyers' movement to restore the former chief justice who was sacked by former President General Musharraf. He has been charged with breaching party discipline by publicly criticising its failure to reinstate Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice.
Critics of Mr Zardari said he regarded these three Bhutto stalwarts as potential rivals within the party and was moving to neutralise them as a threat.
One source said aides to the Pakistan president had been blamed for leaking the recent false claims of a romance between Ms Bhutto's niece Fatima and Hollywood actor George Clooney to undermine her credibility as a potential future PPP leader. Although estranged from the former PPP leader, Fatima Bhutto has inherited her aunt's striking beauty and charismatic style. Many PPP members believe she should inherit the leadership because she is the granddaughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the PPP founder who was executed by General Zia who ousted him in 1977.
Ms Khan and Dr Abassi have been vocal critics of Mr Zardari since he succeeded his late wife as PPP leader following her assassination. She has accused him of running the party as a 'one-man show', failing to consult his party and abandoning his late wife's political vision.
They believe he has hijacked her party and marginalised those who were closest to his late wife. In the months following Ms Bhutto's assassination, senior aides to Mr Zardari blamed Dr Abassi and Ms Khan for failing to protect her from her assassins despite the fact that neither were involved in her security arrangements.
The couple recently spoke out publicly against Mr Zardari at a press conference in Lahore where they accused him of failing to honour his late wife's promise to reinstate the chief justice.
Sources close to the couple said Mr Zardari had also been angry that they and Aitzaz Ahsan had recently visited his late wife's sister Sanam in London in what he regarded as a plot against his leadership. Despite her deep antipathy for politics, Sanam had earlier been touted by some senior party figures as a potential successor following the assassination.
Dr Safdar Abassi told the Daily Telegraph:"We have not yet been issued notices, but Aitzaz is the first and we will be next in line."
Pakistan president 'purging' Benazir Bhutto supporters - Telegraph
