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Pakistan's Rival Opposition Parties Agree to Form Governing Coalition
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Bhutto married Zardari shortly before she became prime minister in 1988, and they developed a close political partnership, as well as joint business dealings that led to charges of corruption and her dismissal from office twice. Sharif ultimately succeeded Bhutto as prime minister on both occasions.
Their enduring competition was ideological, regional and personal.
Bhutto was from a feudal land-holding family in Sindh province; Sharif is from a family of urban industrialists in Punjab province. Bhutto's party was secular; Sharif drew more from Islam. There was a history of bitter personal enmity, too. Bhutto's father, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was hanged in 1979 during the military rule of Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq. Sharif first came to power as a provincial official in the 1980s as Zia's protege and had the crucial support of the army. In 1999, when Sharif, then prime minister, was overthrown by Musharraf, Bhutto supported the coup.
Despite their longtime rivalry, Sharif rushed to the hospital where Bhutto was taken after the fatal attack on her campaign convoy. Later, he traveled to Sindh to pay his respects.
As his party campaigned against the PPP this month, Sharif continued to praise Bhutto's memory. Some analysts said his party benefited as much from the post-assassination sympathy vote as hers.
On Thursday, Sharif and Zardari said their parties' first initiative in Parliament would be to call for a U.N. investigation of Bhutto's assassination.
Special correspondent Shahzad Khurram in Islamabad contributed to this report.
