Bhutto, Benazir

Pakistani politician (born June 21, 1953, Karachi, Pak.—died Dec. 27, 2007, Rawalpindi, Pak.) as the prime minister of Pakistan (1988–90 and 1993–96), was the first woman leader of a Muslim country in modern times. Although she was admired by many as a progressive, pro-Western politician, her two administrations were both dismissed under accusations of corruption and economic mismanagement. Bhutto, the daughter of Pakistani leader (1971–77) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was educated at Harvard University (B.A., 1973) and the University of Oxford (B.A., 1977). After her father's execution (1979), she became the titular head of his opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP). She endured frequent house arrest between 1979 and 1984 and lived in exile from 1984 until Pres. Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq lifted martial law in 1986. In the National Assembly elections held after Zia's death (1988), the PPP won the largest bloc of seats, and Bhutto was sworn in on Dec.

1, 1988, at the head of a coalition government. Dismissed in August 1990, she and the PPP lost the subsequent elections. In the 1993 election, however, the party won a plurality of votes, and Bhutto became head of another coalition. After her dismissal in November 1996, she suffered a decisive loss in the 1997 elections. In 1999 Bhutto and her husband, businessman and senator Asif Ali Zardari (who was jailed from 1996 to 2004 on other charges), were both convicted of corruption, a decision overturned by the Supreme Court in 2001 because there was evidence of governmental interference. Bhutto was not permitted to stand for election in 2002, though a PPP spin-off party earned a strong vote. Amid unresolved discussions of a power-sharing deal with Bhutto, Pres. Pervez Musharraf finally granted her amnesty for the earlier corruption charges. In October 2007 Bhutto returned to Karachi from Dubai after eight years of self-imposed exile. She was assassinated while campaigning for upcoming national elections.