Bilawal Bhutto Zardari: The former prime minister’s son hoping to lead Pakistan through a deeply turbulent time
We’re weaving through the streets of a very smoggy Karachi with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The 35-year-old son of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is hoping to lead Pakistan through a deeply turbulent time.
Today he’s on a double-decker container bus for the first time in this race, in a very last-minute push in the commercial capital to drum up support before Pakistanis head to the polls tomorrow.
His team enthusiastically tells us we’re at the beginning of a 12-hour journey.
Most of that will be spent slowly creeping through unimaginably narrow streets and navigating low-hanging electricity cables, as supporters throw rose petals from the rooftops onto the top of the bus where we spent a lot of time crouching down.
I spot one of Mr Bhutto Zardari’s team incongruously wearing a rubber marigold glove. I soon realise he’s using it to lift every cable that looks like it might hit us.
Politics in Pakistan is a risky business.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s supporters line the streets
It’s a chaotic and colourful journey, with supporters of his Pakistan People’s Party turning out in large numbers to see him.
But the candidates this year have been strikingly less visible than in previous years. One, the frontrunner, has been totally absent in fact – banned from running.
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Pakistan’s election explained
A cycle of vengeance, jailings and military influence
Imran Khan, the cricketer turned politician, was recently jailed for 34 years, charged with corruption, leaking state secrets and an “un-Islamic” marriage.
He denies all of the charges and claims they’re politically motivated.
Many of his PTI party members have also been locked up, unable to stand. They claim the election is rigged, that the military is meddling in the result and intimidating candidates.
And their anger comes against a backdrop of a spiralling economy and rising terror threats.
Imran Khan. Pic: Reuters
“I think that to an outsider, it may look shocking,” Mr Bhutto Zardari tells me. “But unfortunately, this is nothing new for Pakistani politics.
“What I am campaigning on is to try and bring a change to what I think has led to a lot of the younger generation of Pakistanis… disenchanted by the status quo, with the war that Pakistani politics has been running.”
He’s vowing to end the “politics of hate.” But many of Khan’s supporters think the cycle of vengeance runs right through this election.
Mr Bhuttto Zardari thinks Khan has contributed to that cycle, though. He tells me: “When he was in power, Imran Khan rather relished having his political opposition of all stripes in prison quite actively… not just his political opponents, but his political opponents’ daughters, his political opponents’ sisters.”
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari waves to those gathered on the streets
The wide consensus is that the military is pulling the strings this election – that they want Nawaz Sharif to be prime minister and will do whatever it takes to get him there.
It is ironic given the three-time former prime minister, who himself spent time behind bars, was a thorn in the military’s side for so long.
But the pendulum swings fast here and he’s apparently considered to be their safest option for steadying the ship.
Nawaz Sharif. Pic: Reuters
Likely kingmaker faces enormous task
You can’t assume anything in this mercurial political landscape, though.
There’s talk that PTI candidates, now forced to run as independents, could do very well at the polls, fuelled by frustration and determination.
If Pakistan ends up with a leader lacking popular support and who can’t improve the lives of ordinary people quickly, there is a fairly high risk of social unrest.
Any suspicion of overt rigging, which independent observers have raised concerns about, could lead to a lot of volatility.
For his part, Mr Bhutto Zardari wants to be a changemaker. He’s got a much better shot at being a kingmaker, possibly as a coalition partner.
But whoever does win, has a big in-tray to tackle – a weak economy and a rising terror threat.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
Trump criticises Putin – latest updates
Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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