Pakistan's largest political party - the Pakistan People's Party - finds itself leaderless and rudderless in the aftermath of its charismatic chief Benazir Bhutto's assassination.

Founded by her late father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1967, the PPP has been led by the father-daughter duo, with Benazir's mother Nusrat Bhutto also pitching in for some time as party president.

With Bhutto's three children, all teenagers, unlikely to be drafted to succeed her, the slain leader's husband Asif Ali Zardari figures among the probable successors whose names are doing the rounds. However, he has been embroiled in corruption cases and has spent eight years in the prison.

Apart from Zardari, names of Bhutto's close aide Makhdoom Amin Fahim and senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan are being talked about. The party, which is stunned by the sudden development, is yet to formally discuss the leadership issue.

The PPP has traditionally banked on the Bhutto family for its leadership. Benazir Bhutto [Images] had herself stepped in to fill the void created by the execution of her father, former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged after a controversial trial conducted by the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq in 1979.