'Under the circumstances, this announcement may remain limited to bravado and little else, adding momentum to Imran's narrative of victimhood,' points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The attack surprised political observers, as the JUI is perceived as being pro-Taliban.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman has claimed that 9,000 agents of US-based private security firm Blackwater are operational in Islamabad. The Daily Times quoted Fazl as saying that Blackwater is responsible for carrying out Taliban-like terrorist activities in Pakistan.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl has blamed the Raymond Davis network for the two suicide attacks on party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and said the murder attempts were a reaction to Fazl's stand taken on the Davis detention issue and drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal region.
The ceremony was scheduled to be held on Monday, but President Alvi had refused to administer the oath to the lawmakers, compelling the government to postpone it.
In a significant ruling, a constitutional Islamic body in Pakistan has said that covering of face, hands and feet was not mandatory for women under Islamic laws.
The explosion took place at 4 pm at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl workers' convention in Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal district.
'The army has neither any role in the country's electoral process nor has it any desire to do so,' he said.
Bhutto was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack during an election campaign rally on December 27, 2007 outside the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of 11 opposition parties formed on September 20, has launched a three-phased anti-government movement under an "action plan" to remove the Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government.
Counting has begun for the election which will be the second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year history.
A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.
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