Benazir Bhutto
Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 - 27 December 2007) became the first woman to be the head of the state of a Muslim country when she was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988. She was the daughter of a former President who was killed. Bhutto lost the election of 1990 but won the election of 1993. She was born in Pushtal Province.
Benazir Bhutto was assasinated in Rawalpindi, Pakistan on December 27, 2007. She was shot between 2-5 times in the neck and chest. She was brought alive to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but died after unsuccessful surgery.
Background
From the age of 9, Bhutto was groomed by her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, for political office in Pakistan. He introduced her to many of the leading politicians of the day and ensured she was well educated. After completing her early education in Pakistan, between 1969 and 1973 she attended Radcliffe College and Harvard University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Comparative Government. Between 1973 and 1977 she studied at Oxford University, obtaining a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and also studying International Law and Diplomacy. In 1973 her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, became Prime Minister of Pakistan. Ousted from office on charges of corruption in 1975, his trial in 1977 for conspiracy resulted in a death sentence being awarded. Ten days after her return to Pakistan in 1977, martial law was declared and her father was arrested and she was placed under house arrest. Benazir became the focus for her father's supporters and he continued to advise her what to say to the crowds. He was hanged in 1979. In the same year, Benazir became the leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and remained under house arrest un til 1984, when she was allowed to go into exile in Great Britain.
In 1986 Benazir returned to Pakistan, and on 16 November 1988 the PPP won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of the coalition government on 2 December 1988, and became the youngest person and the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state.
Echoing the charges laid against her father, Bhutto's government was dismissed in 1990 following unsubstantiated charges of corruption. Nawaz Sharif and his party, Pakistan Muslim League N, superseded Benazir's PPP, although she was re-elected in 1993. In 1996, the government was dissolved by then president Farooq Leghari, with further corruption charges levelled aginst them. Benazir once more went into exile in Britain.
See also