Islamabad: Benazir Bhutto's party made public yesterday the will in which she endorsed her husband to succeed her - a move that could polish his leadership credentials ahead of this month's elections.
In the handwritten, one-page letter dated October 16 - two days before her return to Pakistan from exile and two-and-a-half months before her assassination - Bhutto urged supporters to keep up her struggle.
"I fear for the future of Pakistan. Please continue the fight against extremism, dictatorship, poverty and ignorance," she wrote.
Her assassination prompted a six-week delay to parliamentary elections and damped Western hopes that the vote could produce a government able to win an escalating war against militants based near the Afghan border.
However, her Pakistan People's Party may yet ride a wave of sympathy to victory in the February 18 vote.
The party quickly named her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as co-chairman and de facto leader, citing Bhutto's last wishes, but released the text of the letter only yesterday.
Zardari is a divisive figure in Pakistan. He acquired the nickname "Mr 10 per cent" during Bhutto's two governments, in which he served as a minister, for alleged corruption. But Bhutto maintained that the accusations were politically motivated and described him as a hero for surviving years of detention on charges that were never proven.
In the letter, Bhutto recommended that Zardari lead the party "in this interim period until you [party officials and members] and he decide what is best. I say this because he is a man of courage and honour ... He has the political stature to keep our party united."
Her political last wishes were made public amid growing media speculation that Zardari is jockeying with other party leaders to become prime minister, should the party triumph in the ballot.
Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the will was being made available to halt speculation about its contents.
