Islamabad: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari today said that party chairman Bilawal Bhutto is being "trained" in London apparently to "grow up", hinting that he may sideline his son from politics.
"Bilawal is receiving training in London. I believe that his thinking needs to mature and he needs to grow up. Once that happens, he will enter politics again," Zardari said.
Bilawal, 26, was launched into politics last year, but he soon developed differences with his father over the running of party affairs, and later that year he moved in London.
There were speculations that after initial efforts to convince Bilawal to return to Pakistan, Zardari changed his mind and was planning to launch his daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari into politics, instead.
In the press conference today, Bakhtawar was sitting next to Zardari when he said Bilawal was being "trained" in London for the time being.
Zardari, however, did not announce any position for Bakhtawar. But analysts believe it was her "soft launch" and she would now be seen often with her father, who needs a Bhutto on his side to keep the PPP intact.
So far Bilawal has not issued any statement but it has been reported that he had decided to pursue his studies and complete his masters from Oxford from where he graduated.
The PPP, which is one of the largest party in Pakistan, continues to be dominated by members of Bhutto family. The party's founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was executed by military dictator in 1979, while his daughter Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi in 2007.
Earlier, Benazir's two brothers were also killed under mysterious circumstances.
