Asif Ali Zardari | |
---|---|
آصف علي زرداري | |
![]() Zardari in 2024 | |
11th and 14th President of Pakistan | |
Assumed office 10 March 2024 | |
Prime Minister | Shehbaz Sharif |
Preceded by | Arif Alvi |
In office 9 September 2008 – 9 September 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Yousaf Raza Gillani Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Mir Hazar Khan Khoso (Caretaker) Nawaz Sharif |
Preceded by | Muhammad Mian Soomro (acting) |
Succeeded by | Mamnoon Hussain |
President of PPP-P[1] | |
Assumed office 27 December 2015 | |
Preceded by | Ameen Faheem |
Co-Chairperson of the PPP | |
In office 30 December 2007 – 27 December 2015 Serving with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Pakistan | |
In office 19 October 1993 – 5 November 1996 | |
Prime Minister | Benazir Bhutto |
In office 2 December 1988 – 6 August 1990 | |
Prime Minister | Benazir Bhutto |
Member of the Senate of Pakistan | |
In office March 1997 – 12 October 1999 | |
Federal Minister for Investment | |
In office 1995–1996 | |
President | Farooq Leghari |
Prime Minister | Benazir Bhutto |
Federal Minister for Environment | |
In office 1993–1996 | |
President | Farooq Leghari |
Prime Minister | Benazir Bhutto |
Member of National Assembly of Pakistan | |
In office 29 February 2024 – 9 March 2024 | |
In office 13 August 2018 – 10 August 2023 | |
In office 19 October 1993 – 5 November 1996 | |
In office 6 November 1990 – 18 July 1993 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Karachi, Federal Capital Territory, Pakistan (now Sindh, Pakistan) | 26 July 1955
Political party | Pakistan People's Party |
Spouse | |
Children | Bilawal Zardari Aseefa Zardari |
Parent(s) | Hakim Ali Zardari[2] Bilquis Sultana |
Relatives | See Zardari family |
Asif Ali Zardari (Urdu: آصف علی زرداری; Sindhi: آصف علي زرداري; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 10 March 2024. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party.[3]
He earlier served as the 11th president of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013, the first president born after Independence. He is the widower of twice-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto. He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2018 to 2023, and in 2024.
The son of Hakim Ali Zardari, a landowner from Sindh, Zardari rose to prominence after his marriage to Benazir Bhutto in 1987, who became the Prime Minister of Pakistan after her election in 1988. When Bhutto's government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990, Zardari was widely criticized for involvement in corruption scandals that led to its collapse.[4][5] When Bhutto was reelected in 1993, Zardari served as Federal Investment Minister and Chairperson of Pakistan Environmental Protection Council. Following increasing tensions between Bhutto's brother Murtaza and Zardari, Murtaza was killed by police in Karachi on 20 September 1996.[6][7] Bhutto's government was dismissed a month later by President Farooq Leghari, while Zardari was arrested and indicted for Murtaza's murder as well as corruption charges.[8][9]
Although incarcerated, he nominally served in Parliament after being elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and Senate in 1997. He was released from jail in 2004 and went into self-exile to Dubai, but returned when Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007. As the new co-chairman of the PPP, he led his party to victory in the 2008 general elections. He spearheaded a coalition that forced military ruler Pervez Musharraf to resign, and was elected president on 6 September 2008. He was acquitted of various criminal charges the same year.[10][6]
As president, Zardari remained a strong American ally in the war in Afghanistan, despite prevalent public disapproval of the United States following the Raymond Davis incident and the NATO attack in Salala in 2011. Domestically, Zardari achieved the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 2010, which constitutionally reduced his presidential powers. His attempt to prevent the reinstatement of Supreme Court judges failed in the face of massive protests led by his political rival Nawaz Sharif. The restored Supreme Court dismissed the PPP's elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani for contempt in 2012 after Gillani refused to write to the Government of Switzerland to reopen corruption cases against Zardari. Zardari's tenure was also criticised for mishandling nationwide floods in 2010, and growing terrorist violence. Following multiple bombings of Hazaras in Quetta in early 2013, Zardari dismissed his provincial government in Balochistan.
Towards the end of his term, Zardari recorded abysmally low approval ratings, ranging from 11 to 14%.[11][12] After the PPP was heavily defeated in the 2013 general election, Zardari became the country's first elected president to complete his constitutional term on 9 September 2013.[13] His legacy remains divisive, with political observers accusing his administration of corruption and cronyism.[14][15] However, he became president of Pakistan again in March 2024 due to a coalition agreement which was reached following the 2024 Pakistani general election.[16]
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