Thousands of people have gathered at the Bhutto mausoleum on February 7, at the end of the 40-day period of mourning, to honor the former Pakistani Prime Minister, assassinated on December 27 in the city of Rawalpindi. Her grave was covered in rose petals during the Muslim rituals that took place in Sindh province in southern Pakistan.

For the first time since her death, her widower, Asif Ali Zardari, addressed the crowd gathered at the mausoleum: “I will tour the whole of Pakistan with Benazir Bhutto’s mission. Whether I succeed or am killed in the process, you will all be witness,” Bloomberg.com reported. Moreover, he said that if he was to be martyred before finishing his mission, he should be buried alongside his wife.

Benazir Bhutto was killed in an attack that also made other 20 victims, during an election rally in Rawalpindi. According to video footage, she was the victim of a gunman and a suicide attack. The government had tried to blame Taliban allies for the attacks, but Bhutto reportedly wrote beforehand the government was planning an attack against her.

Zardari was named Bhutto’s successor according to her will, and he will begin the campaign before the parliamentary elections that are to be held February 18 as leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, in the race against President Pervez Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam. Public rallies are set to begin later this week.

The elections were initially scheduled for January 8, but following her death, they had to be postponed for six weeks. It remains unclear whether after the elections Zardari and Musharraf will decide to work together, considering Bhutto had started discussions with Musharraf prior to her death, but they came to null results, and Bhutto even asked him to step down as president.