Under the PPP government, Pakistan's military establishment kept a tight grip on matters of foreign policy and national security.
He's a lifelong supporter of Bhutto's PPP, the Pakistan People's Party.
However, the coalition government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is weak.
ECONOMIST: For once, the government pushes back on intolerance
The violence threatens to bring down the government of Sindh province, a coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which presides over Karachi.
Musharraf's party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam (PML-Q), conceded defeat and the main opposition parties -- PPP and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) - together emerged with a majority in the 342-member lower house of the National Assembly (NA).
Ali Haider - a candidate for the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) - was seized in the central city of Multan, Mr Gilani said.
The PPP's main contender is the Pakistan Muslim League-N, headed by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who spent years living in exile Saudi Arabia.
The other two parties are the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Pakistan's two largest parties, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are currently leaderless.
The MQM's departure leaves Mr Gilani's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) well below the 172 seats needed to preserve its majority.
Lyari's dominant gangsters, the People's Aman Committee (PAC), have traditionally lent their support to the country's ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
Bhutto's support appears to be slipping in the key province of Punjab and in Sind, the traditional base of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
That change actually took a new turn months ago, following a victory by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in a general election Feb. 18.
President Asif Zardari was holding a meeting of leading figures in the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Karachi, according to state broadcaster PTV.
The violence has pitted the MQM on one side and the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - backed by the Pashtun and Balochi communities - on the other.
And admitting that his governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) may not have been "able to provide rivers of milk and honey", the prime minister said it had tried its best to alleviate the country's problems.
These economic gains have been threatened by unprecedented violence between the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and the Awami National Party (ANP) -- all of whom are looking to benefit from the financial spoils.
This violence also makes itself felt politically and there is profound antagonism between the local chapters of three political parties: the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the mostly Pashtun Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM).
The BBC's Shahzeb Jillani in Islamabad says that security fears faced by the MQM and other relatively liberal parties including President Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) are overshadowing the run-up to the vote.
BBC: Pakistan's MQM party shuts Karachi offices after attack
In murdering Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the terrorists warned Pakistanis of their readiness to turn the election into carnage, and this partly explains why less than 40% of some 80 million eligible voters ventured to the polls.
Others have been casting doubts on the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) - the largest and most organised political party of the city which is a partner in power both at the provincial and central levels but whose relations with the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) have soured over the past couple of months.
That probe has dropped out of the headlines in Pakistan in recent weeks as the Supreme Court turned its focus to allegations of corruption against President Zardari, whose position is largely ceremonial but who retains power through his role as co-chairman of the governing Pakistan People's Party, or PPP.
He and half his colleagues were withdrawn from the cabinet in May by the PPP's biggest coalition partner, Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N).
It means that both the PPP and, especially, the other main party, the Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by Nawaz Sharif, have a bank of religious-minded voters whom they must be careful not to offend.
The outgoing government led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was widely perceived as corrupt, and PPP was expected to lose many of its parliament seats this election.
The outgoing government led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was widely perceived as corrupt, and PPP is expected to lose many of its parliament seats this election.
WSJ: Irregularities at Polls, Strong Turnout as Pakistan Votes
The outgoing government led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was widely perceived as corrupt, and PPP once a major political force appeared to be relegated to third place by Mr. Khan's surge.
The outgoing government led by President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was widely perceived as corrupt, and PPP once a major political force was fighting neck and neck with Mr. Khan's PTI for the second place in the race, according to initial results.
In charge in Pakistan since 1999, Musharraf has been criticized by the PPP for not doing enough to safeguard Bhutto, who died after her convoy was attacked by a gunman and suicide bomb blast when she was campaigning in the northern city of Rawalpindi.
"The ground situation in Pakistan has completely changed, even if people are dissatisfied with the PPP's performance, " he said.
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