Jubilant Bhutto supporters fete vote, look to future
By Simon Gardner
LARKANA, Pakistan, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Beating drums and whirling around camp fires in the streets, Benazir Bhutto supporters sang and danced through the early hours of Tuesday anticipating a posthumous election victory for their slain leader.
Bursts of gunfire rang out through the night in Bhutto's native southern district of Larkana as elated supporters of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) celebrated what was almost certain to be a strong win in their party stronghold.
Bhutto's assassination while campaigning in the garrison of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27 plunged Pakistan into a state of depression and torpedoed any remote chance President Pervez Musharraf had of resurrecting his popularity.
By late morning, the count nationwide showed the PPP nosing ahead of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, with the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League a distant third, Larkana residents were bustling back to work in shops and markets.
Some continued to party.
"Long live Bhutto!" bellowed 30-year-old unemployed PPP supporter Akhtiar Ali, leading a rag-tag group of two dozen youths and children marching through the street waving the party's red, green and black flag.
"Today is an important day, not just for Larkana, not just Sindh or Pakistan, but for the whole world!" he said. "Still the results are coming and we are waiting, but we hope for success. If Nawaz' party wins, then they are with us and we are happy."
Next to him, a young boy sucked on a shiny bullet casing recovered after one celebratory burst of gunfire overnight.
BHUTTO LIVES ON
"At every house and in every individual, the spirit of Benazir Bhutto lives on. We hope her mission continues,"Ali said, before resuming his role as pied piper.
Donkey carts and three wheeler taxis adorned with PPP flags sped through the winding streets, nearly colliding with honking cars at every turn amid the colourful chaos in the town.
By the roadside, banners put up to welcome Bhutto back from years of self-exile in October still hang eerily from poles, weeks after her assassination in a gun and bomb suicide attack, that the government says was carried out by militants with al Qaeda ties.
Tending his roadside vegetable barrow, trader Innayatullah Brohi is delighted at the party's demonstration of strength in the rural hinterland of Sindh province.
Flies swarm over his tomatoes, cauliflower, spring onions and fresh coriander. Struggling, like his clients, with high inflation and soaring prices of staples, he is praying for stability after months of uncertainty.
"Hopefully prices will come down and we will see prosperity across the country," Brohi said. "Prices are clearly higher and we are suffering. People are fighting with us, saying 'please give us a lower price!'. So how can we manage?"
Brohi now earns about $4 a day, around half of his income during Bhutto's second term as prime minister.
"It's very difficult for me," the father-of-three added. I'm just managing to survive, but cannot save anything."
Early results show voter turnout was just 27 percent in Larkana district, with the local seat going to the PPP candidate, who beat Bhutto's estranged sister-in-law Ghinwa.
Ameer Hyder, deputy election commissioner for Larkana division, put the low turnout down to security fears.
"People were afraid to come out," said Hyder,
"Maybe they were afraid of suicide bombings."
(Additional reporting by Nazir Siyal; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and David Fox)
LARKANA, Pakistan, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Beating drums and whirling around camp fires in the streets, Benazir Bhutto supporters sang and danced through the early hours of Tuesday anticipating a posthumous election victory for their slain leader.
Bursts of gunfire rang out through the night in Bhutto's native southern district of Larkana as elated supporters of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP) celebrated what was almost certain to be a strong win in their party stronghold.
Bhutto's assassination while campaigning in the garrison of Rawalpindi on Dec. 27 plunged Pakistan into a state of depression and torpedoed any remote chance President Pervez Musharraf had of resurrecting his popularity.
By late morning, the count nationwide showed the PPP nosing ahead of the party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, with the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League a distant third, Larkana residents were bustling back to work in shops and markets.
Some continued to party.
"Long live Bhutto!" bellowed 30-year-old unemployed PPP supporter Akhtiar Ali, leading a rag-tag group of two dozen youths and children marching through the street waving the party's red, green and black flag.
"Today is an important day, not just for Larkana, not just Sindh or Pakistan, but for the whole world!" he said. "Still the results are coming and we are waiting, but we hope for success. If Nawaz' party wins, then they are with us and we are happy."
Next to him, a young boy sucked on a shiny bullet casing recovered after one celebratory burst of gunfire overnight.
BHUTTO LIVES ON
"At every house and in every individual, the spirit of Benazir Bhutto lives on. We hope her mission continues,"Ali said, before resuming his role as pied piper.
Donkey carts and three wheeler taxis adorned with PPP flags sped through the winding streets, nearly colliding with honking cars at every turn amid the colourful chaos in the town.
By the roadside, banners put up to welcome Bhutto back from years of self-exile in October still hang eerily from poles, weeks after her assassination in a gun and bomb suicide attack, that the government says was carried out by militants with al Qaeda ties.
Tending his roadside vegetable barrow, trader Innayatullah Brohi is delighted at the party's demonstration of strength in the rural hinterland of Sindh province.
Flies swarm over his tomatoes, cauliflower, spring onions and fresh coriander. Struggling, like his clients, with high inflation and soaring prices of staples, he is praying for stability after months of uncertainty.
"Hopefully prices will come down and we will see prosperity across the country," Brohi said. "Prices are clearly higher and we are suffering. People are fighting with us, saying 'please give us a lower price!'. So how can we manage?"
Brohi now earns about $4 a day, around half of his income during Bhutto's second term as prime minister.
"It's very difficult for me," the father-of-three added. I'm just managing to survive, but cannot save anything."
Early results show voter turnout was just 27 percent in Larkana district, with the local seat going to the PPP candidate, who beat Bhutto's estranged sister-in-law Ghinwa.
Ameer Hyder, deputy election commissioner for Larkana division, put the low turnout down to security fears.
"People were afraid to come out," said Hyder,
"Maybe they were afraid of suicide bombings."
(Additional reporting by Nazir Siyal; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and David Fox)
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