Updated on Monday, September 01, 2008, 00:00 IST

London, Sept 01: The manoeuvring by PPP's chief Asif Ali Zardari to get himself elected to the presidency has sparked an outcry in the country's most famous political dynasty, with the head of the Bhutto clan describing it as the latest in a series of tragedies to afflict the family and the nation.

"It's unfortunate for the country, and ... for the party that a man of his background should become President," said Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, the uncle of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto.

"He is totally corrupt and utterly illiterate ... If he becomes the next President, what will be left of this country?" Mumtaz, a founding member of the PPP, was quoted as saying by The Independent newspaper.

Mumtaz, the head of the Bhutto clan, told The British daily last week that the prospect of Zardari becoming President was the latest in a series of tragedies to afflict the family and Pakistan.

Divisions in the family goes back to the hanging of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Benazir's father and founder of the PPP by military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1979, and have deepened with each successive death. Both of Benazir's brothers, Shahnawaz and Murtaza, were killed in controversial circumstances.

Mumtaz, a former federal minister and Chief Minister of Sindh, feels that the leadership of the PPP should never have left the family.

"The party was always led by the Bhuttos, and that's how I think Mr Bhutto wanted it," he said. "The Zardaris have now taken over the party," he told the London-based daily. "As far as the party is concerned, I think that's a gone thing," he said.

Zardari, who enjoys the support from several smaller parties, is poised to win the contest in Saturday's indirect election to replace Pervez Musharraf.

Bureau Report