Political Leadership: A Case Study of Benazir Bhutto

Abstract

For the advancement of the cause of democracy, Benazir Bhutto faced a variety of challenges, trails, contests and resistances prior to her becoming the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. The watershed of this first struggle was bound by an era covered by supposedly a dictatorial regime from 1977 to 1988. In terms of realpolitic, this move was a complex and significant ideological struggle based on social justice against conservative forces and status-quo, braced by some international influential clusters. As a resilient woman political leader, she managed to cope with all the crises. The study in hand is the in-depth analysis of the struggle of Benazir Bhutto for upholding the democratic forces. Data sources included Focus Group Discussions with party workers and political leaders, in-depth interviews with historians and civil society members, and content analysis of documents like letters (written by Benazir Bhutto to various party workers and by the author to Benazir Bhutto), reports, Peoples Party’s constitution, press releases by Benazir Bhutto, media documentaries and other published material relevant to the topic. Analysis of the data revealed that Benazir Bhutto confronted significant hardships and challenges to restore democracy in Pakistan. Despite ruthlessness of the ruling regime, betrayals of her party men and unfavorable circumstances she managed to cope with all the difficulties with her charisma and leadership qualities. She successfully exhibited her visionary skills, persistence, determination, influential personality, and immense courage. As part of her reconciliation and resilience, she joined hands with opponents; she was able to bring all conservative clusters on board on its voyage to democracy. The resilience demonstrated by Benazir Bhutto in her political struggle could be a model for political practitioners and political leadership xviii in Pakistan. This research concludes by suggesting for doing scientific studies about the Bhutto legacy of later time periods and making a comparative analysis for drawing lessons for the political landscape of Pakistan. Similarly, in the struggle for democracy in Pakistan, there are many other leaders. In-depth analysis of their terrain is in order to develop strategies for political struggle.