ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who has had a life storied equally by misfortune, is set to become president for a 2nd time on Saturday. Between 2008 and 2013, Asif Ali Zardari ushered in constitutional reforms rolling back all presidential powers, and his second term will see him steer a largely ceremonial office.
Newly sworn-in legislators were set to vote him in under the terms of a coalition agreement brokered after February 8 polls in Pakistan. Under that deal, Asif Ali Zardari’s PPP will take the presidency, while the PML-N has secured the prime minister’s slot for Shehbaz Sharif, who was formally sworn in on Monday.
Who is Asif Ali Zardari?
Asif Ali Zardari was born in 1955 into a land-owning family from Sindh province of Pakistan. The former President expressed only limited political ambitions as a young man and also losing a 1983 local government election in his area. However, it was his 1987 arranged marriage with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto that earned him a position in the political limelight.
Bhutto was an Oxford and Harvard graduate driven by the desire to hold protest for the restoration of democracy in the country. Their marriage celebrations were labeled the “people’s wedding” — doubling as a political gathering in the megacity of Karachi, where a crowd of more than 100,000 passionately chanted Pakistan People Parties slogans.
Initially, Asif Ali Zardari did not actively participate in the country’s politics. Benazir Bhutto served as prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 — the first woman to head a government in a Muslim nation — and again from 1993 to 1996. In Benazir Bhutto’s 2nd term, Zardari served as Minister for Investment.
In December 2007, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during an election rally in Rawalpindi. The development shook the country to its core, a wave of sympathy carrying the PPP to win in 2008. PPP nominated Asif Ali Zardari as president. In 2013, Asif Ali Zardari became the first Pakistani president to complete his complete term. Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto had three children, including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the current chairman of the PPP and former foreign minister.
Presidential elections
However, Presidential elections to choose the new President of Pakistan for next term will be held today. Asif Ali Zardari and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), will vie for the office.
