Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari
آصف علي زرداري
Zardari in 2024
11th and 14th President of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 March 2024
Prime MinisterShehbaz Sharif
Preceded byArif Alvi
In office
9 September 2008 – 9 September 2013
Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gillani
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf
Mir Hazar Khan Khoso (Caretaker)
Nawaz Sharif
Preceded byMuhammad Mian Soomro (acting)
Succeeded byMamnoon Hussain
President of PPP-P[1]
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 December 2015
Preceded byAmeen Faheem
Co-Chairperson of the PPP
In office
30 December 2007 – 27 December 2015
Preceded byPosition established
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office
19 October 1993 – 5 November 1996
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
In office
2 December 1988 – 6 August 1990
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
Member of the Senate of Pakistan
In office
March 1997 – 12 October 1999
Federal Minister for Investment
In office
1995–1996
PresidentFarooq Leghari
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
Federal Minister for Environment
In office
1993–1996
PresidentFarooq Leghari
Prime MinisterBenazir 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 (1955-07-26) 26 July 1955 (age 69)
Karachi, Federal Capital Territory, Pakistan (now Sindh, Pakistan)
Political partyPakistan People's Party
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1987; died 2007)​
ChildrenBilawal Zardari
Aseefa Zardari
Parent(s)Hakim Ali Zardari[2]
Bilquis Sultana
RelativesSee Zardari family
This article contains Urdu text. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters running left to right or other symbols instead of Urdu script.

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, having held the same office from 2008 to 2013. He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party from December 2007 until December 2015.[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]

  1. ^ "Zardari elected PPPP president". Dunya News. 27 December 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Asif Ali Zardari Fast Facts". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Zardari returns to Office of President for second time". 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Profile: Pakistan: leaders". BBC News. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference leftprison was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "Death anniversary: 16 years since Murtaza Bhutto was killed – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 20 September 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Bhuttos: 'Cursed' political dynasty". 28 December 2007. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Pakistan ex-premier's spouse indicted for murder". The New York Times. 6 July 1997.
  9. ^ Burns, John F (5 November 1996). "Pakistan's Premier Bhutto is put under house arrest". The New York Times
  10. ^ Tanoli, Ishaq (10 April 2008). "SHC acquits Zardari in Murtaza murder case". Dawn. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Zardari has abysmally low approval rating". The Times of India. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  12. ^ Nayani, Aziz (9 May 2013). "Democracy's Surprisingly Low Approval Rating in Pakistan". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  13. ^ Malik, Humaima (29 July 2013). "Asif Zardari Returns Home Ahead of Presidential Polls". Pakistan Tribune. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Asif Ali Zardari: the godfather as president". The Guardian. 7 September 2008. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Pakistan's president steps down after completing historic full term". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  16. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (3 March 2024). "Shehbaz Sharif sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.