| Asif Ali Zardari آصف علی زرداری | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 11th President of Pakistan | |
| In office 9 September 2008 – 8 September 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Yousaf Raza Gillani Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Mir Hazar Khan Khoso (Acting) Nawaz Sharif |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Mian Soomro(Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Mamnoon Hussain |
| President of the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians[1] | |
| Assumed office 27 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Ameen Faheem |
| Co-chairperson of the Pakistan People's Party | |
| In office 30 December 2007 – 27 December 2015 Serving with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 July 1955 Karachi, Sind, Pakistan (now in Sindh, Pakistan) |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Spouse(s) | Benazir Bhutto (1987–2007) |
| Children | Bilawal Bakhtawar Asifa |
| Religion | Islam[2] |
Asif Ali Zardari (Urdu: آصف علی زرداری) Sindhi: آصف علي زرداري); born 26 July 1955)[3] is a Pakistani politician and current co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.
A landowner from Sindh, Zardari rose to prominence after his marriage toBenazir Bhutto in 1987, becoming the First Gentleman after his wife was elected Prime Minister in 1988. When Bhutto's government was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990, Zardari was widely criticized forinvolvement in corruption scandals that led to its collapse.[4][5] When Bhutto was reelected in 1993, Zardari served as Federal Investment Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Environmental Protection Council in her second administration. Following increasing tensions between Bhutto's brotherMurtaza and Zardari, Murtaza was killed in a police encounter 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][11]
As president, Zardari remained a strong U.S. ally in the war in Afghanistan, despite prevalent public disapproval of the United States following theRaymond 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 protestsled 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 criticized 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%.[12][13] 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 8 September 2013.[14] The Zardari-led PPP continues to form the provincial government in Sindh.
Early life and education
Zardari was born on 26 July 1955[15] in Karachi, Sindh[16][17] in the Zardari family. He is a Sindhi of Baloch origin, belonging to the Sindhi-Baloch Zardari tribe.[15] He is the only son of Hakim Ali Zardari, a tribal chief and prominent landowner, and Zarrin Zardari.[16][18]
In his youth, he enjoyed polo and boxing.[19] He led a polo team known as the Zardari Four.[20] His father owned Bambino[21]—a famous cinema in Karachi—and donated movie equipment to his school.[19] He also appeared in a movie, Salgirah, as a child artist.[22] Zardari's academic background remains a question mark.[19] He received his primary education fromKarachi Grammar School. His official biography says he graduated from Cadet College, Petaro in 1972.[15][19] He went to St Patrick's High School, Karachi from 1973–74; a school clerk says he failed his final examination there.[19] In March 2008, he claimed he had graduated from the London School of Business Studies with a bachelor of education degree in the early 1970s.[21] Zardari's official biography states he also attended Pedinton School in Britain.[19][21][23] His British education, however, has not been confirmed, and a search did not turn up any Pedinton School in London.[19][21][23] The issue of his diploma was contentious because a 2002 rule required candidates for Parliament to hold a college degree,[21] but the rule was overturned by Pakistan's Supreme Court in April 2008.[19][23]
Early political career
Zardari's initial political career was unsuccessful. In 1983, he lost an election for a district council seat in Nawabshah, a city of Sindh, where his family owned thousands of acres of farmland.[19] He then went into real estate.[19]
Benazir Bhutto era
Marriage to Bhutto
He married Benazir Bhutto on 18 December 1987.[24][25] The arranged marriage, done in accordance with Pakistani culture, was initially considered an unlikely match.[24][25] The lavish sunset ceremony in Karachi was followed by immense night celebrations that included over 100,000 people.[24][25] The marriage enhanced Bhutto's political position in a country where older unmarried women are frowned upon.[24][25] Zardari deferred to his wife's wishes by agreeing to stay out of politics.[25]
In 1988, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash. A few months later, Bhutto became Pakistan's first female Prime Minister when her party won 94 of 207 seats contested in the 1988 elections.
Involvement in the first Bhutto Administration and first imprisonment
He generally stayed out of his wife's first administration, but he and his associates became entangled in corruption cases linked to the government.[4] He was largely blamed for the collapse of the Bhutto administration.[5]
After the dismissal of Bhutto's government in August 1990,[26] Benazir Bhutto and Zardari were prohibited from leaving the country by security forces under the direction of the Pakistan Army.[27] During the interim government between August and October, caretaker Prime Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, a Bhutto rival, initiated investigations of corruption by the Bhutto administration.[28] Jatoi accused Zardari of using his wife's political position to charge a ten percent commission for obtaining permission to set up any project or to receive loans.[28] He was tagged with the nickname "Mr. Ten Percent".[19]
He was arrested on 10 October 1990 on charges relating to kidnapping and extortion.[26][29] The charges alleged an extortion scheme that involved tying a supposed bomb to a British businessman's leg.[19] The Bhutto family considered the indictment politically motivated and fabricated.[29] In the October 1990 elections, he was elected to the National Assembly while in jail.[30] Bhutto and the PPP staged a walkout from the inaugural session of the National Assembly to protest Zardari's incarceration.[30] He posted $20,000 bail, but his release was blocked by a government ordinance that removed a court's power to release suspects being tried in the terrorist court, which fast-track trials for alleged terrorists.[5] The ordinance was later revoked and a special court acquitted him of bank fraud and conspiracy to murder political opponents.[5] He was freed in February 1993.[5] In March 1994, Zardari was acquitted of bank fraud charges.[31] All other corruption charges relating to Bhutto's first term were dropped or thrown out of the courts.[32]
On March 25, 1991, the hijackers aboard Singapore Airlines Flight 117 demanded Zardari's release among other demands. The hijackers were killed by Singapore Commandos.
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