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Asif Ali Zardari

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Asif Ali Zardari
آصف علی زرداری
President of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 September 2008
Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded byMuhammad Mian Soomro (Acting)
Co-Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
30 December 2007
Preceded byBenazir Bhutto
Personal details
Born (1955-07-22) 22 July 1955 (age 69)
Karachi, Pakistan[1]
Political partyPakistan Peoples Party
SpouseBenazir Bhutto (Deceased in 2007)
ChildrenBilawal Bhutto Zardari
Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari
Asifa Bhutto Zardari
Residence(s)Islamabad, Pakistan
WebsitePPP website

Asif Ali Zardari (Urdu, Sindhi: آصف علی زرداری) (born 22 July 1955) is the 14th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Zardari is the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who twice served as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Member of National Assembly

Asif Ali Zardari is a dakoo,choore,and fraudia, Qatil Asif once served as a member of the National Assembly, and he was at one point the Minister of Environment during his wife's second term as the Prime Minister (1993–1996). Initially he was very interested in the Finance Ministry, but Bhutto opted to put him in a non-revenue generating department instead. During his time as the Environment Minister, he claimed in a televised news conference on STN that every school in Pakistan had had an Environment & Forestry department which had motivated every student to plant one tree.

He also served as a Senator until the October 1999 coup by General Pervez Musharraf, in which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was ousted and the Senate and assemblies were both dissolved.

Co-chairman of the PPP (president of Pakistan)

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007, shortly after returning to Pakistan from exile. On 30 December 2007, Asif Ali Zardari became the co-chairman of the PPP, along with his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is currently studying at Oxford. Bilawal is intended to fully assume the post when he completes his education.[2]

After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari reaffirmed his disinterest in the prime ministership.[3][4] Chairman Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif, leader of the PML-N, along with some smaller political parties, joined forces in an electoral coalition that won a heavy majority in the elections and unseated Musharraf's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q). After the election, he called for a government of national unity, and divided cabinet portfolios among coalition partners on proportionate basis.[5] Asif Ali Zardari and former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on 21 February 2008 that their parties would work together in the national parliament after scoring big wins in the election.[6] On 5 March 2008, Mr Zardari was cleared of five corruption charges,[7] including corruption and illegal use of property under NRO, the National Reconciliation Ordinance[8] He had another trial on the remaining charges on 14 April 2008, when he was cleared under the same NRO.[9] On 19 April 2008, Zardari announced in a press conference in London that he and his sister, Faryal Talpur, would participate in the by-elections taking place on 3 June and that, if necessary, he would contest to become the country's next Prime Minister, even though his party voted by a 2/3 majority[10] to announce that Yousaf Raza Gillani would be the PM for a five year term.

Candidate for the presidency following Musharraf's resignation

Zardari, in alliance with Nawaz Sharif, was preparing to impeach president Pervez Musharraf, and a charge-sheet and draft of impeachment had already been prepared, when Musharraf, in accordance with his advisors, resigned from the presidency on 18 August 2008. Chairman Zardari has been confirmed by the Central Executive Committee of the PPP as well as endorsed by the rival ethnic party MQM as candidate for the post of President of Pakistan.[11] There is nevertheless strong disagreement among the current coalition partners, and Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party is threatening to leave the coalition as a result.[12] According to the Constitution, elections must be held within 30 days of the previous president stepping down. The electoral college is composed of the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four provincial assemblies.

Pakistan's Election Commission on 22 August announced that a presidential election would be held on 6 September, and the nomination papers could be filed from 26 August.[13][12] Many analysts have predicted that if Zardari is elected President, Pakistan's political, economical and financial position will suffer heavily.[citation needed]

It has been reported by the The New York Times that Zalmay Khalilzad, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, had been unofficially advising Asif Ali Zardari.[14] Khalilzad, an Afghan native, is rumored to be flirting with the possibility of returning home to challenge President Hamid Karzai when his term expires next year. Should Khalilzad return home, a good working relationship with Islamabad would be critical.[15]

Zardari as President of Pakistan

Zardari was elected president of Pakistan, as Chief election commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq announced that "Asif Ali Zardari secured 281 votes out of the 426 valid votes polled in the parliament," In Sindh, Zardari had 62 of the 65 electoral votes while his two main opponents got zero votes; in North West Frontier Province Zardari got 56 votes against 5 by Siddiqui and one by Hussain; in Balochistan, 59 votes while Siddiqui and Hussain got 2 each. However, Zardari did not win the majority in the nation's biggest province, Punjab, where the PML-N's Siddiqui got a clear majority.[16] BBC reported that Zardari "won 481 votes, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory."[17] New York Times said that Zardari would be sworn in "as soon as Saturday night or as late as Monday or Tuesday, diplomats and officials said."[18]

Zardari was challenged by Justice (Retired) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, a former judge nominated by Nawaz Sharif's PML-N, and Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who was nominated by the PML-Q, which backed Musharraf. According to the Constitution of 1973 presently in vogue (but declared for major amendments by Zardari) the President of Pakistan, who must be a Muslim and a male, is elected by an electoral college composed of members of the two houses of parliament - the 342 seat lower house National Assembly and the 100 member upper house Senate, as well as members of the four provincial assemblies - Sindh, Punjab, North West Frontier and Balochistan. The assemblies have total of 1170 seats, but the number of electoral college votes is 702 since provincial assembly votes are counted on a proportional basis. The new president, who obtains the largest number of votes, will serve for five years as Pakistan's 11th president since 1956, when the country became an Islamic Republic, excluding acting presidents and CMLAs [Chief Martial Law Administrators] during times of military rule.[19][20] Voting was in progress at the Parliament House, while the Senate members finished casting their votes,[21]

Zardari was sworn in by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar in a ceremony at the presidential palace on 9 September 2008.[22]

Controversies

He spent several years in jail on charges of corruption. He was labeled "Mr 10%". [citation needed]

He found himself in major trouble in 1990 when he was accused of tying a remote-controlled bomb to the leg of a businessman and sending him into a bank to withdraw money from his account as a pay-off. [citation needed]

However, he was whisked out of prison to be made a minister after the PPP won elections in 1993.[citation needed]

In 1996, he was arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. He found himself charged with the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, his wife's brother. [citation needed]

He was later charged, along with his wife, and convicted in a kickbacks scam involving a Swiss company, SGS. [citation needed]

But a mistrial was declared by Pakistan's Supreme Court following a major scandal involving the accountability bureau and the judge who had issued the verdict. [citation needed]

Pakistan's judiciary has not had a reputation for acting independently of the government when it comes to high-profile cases, especially of a political nature. [citation needed]

His last prison sentence lasted eight years until 2004, during which time he says he was tortured. [citation needed]

It ended as the then General Musharraf was engaged in protracted negotiations with Benazir Bhutto, then in self-imposed exile, for some form of political reconciliation. [23]



See also

References

  1. ^ BBC NEWS South Asia Profile: Asif Ali Zardari
  2. ^ "Bhutto's son, husband to be co-leaders of party". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  3. ^ Asif Ali Zardari does not desire Prime Minister office Top News
  4. ^ Channelnewsasia.com
  5. ^ "Bhutto's widower calls for unity". CNN. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  6. ^ "Pakistan leaders agree on coalition", CNN.com, 21 February 2008.
  7. ^ Asif Ali Zardari cleared in five corruption cases
  8. ^ Asif Ali Zardari cleared in five corruption cases including corruption and illegal use of property under NRO
  9. ^ Asif emerges as 'Mr Clean' after acquittal in last case
  10. ^ http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=90269&videoChannel=1&refresh=true
  11. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7575958.stm
  12. ^ a b radionetherlands.nl, Pakistan to choose president on 6 September
  13. ^ Asif Ali Zardari was elected President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 6 September 2008 after receiving 66% votes. timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Pakistan presidential poll on September 6
  14. ^ U.N. Envoy's Ties to Pakistani Are Questioned
  15. ^ U.S./U.N. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to Leave Office
  16. ^ afp.google.com, Zardari wins Pakistan presidential election: officials
  17. ^ news.bbc.co.uk, Bhutto's widower wins presidency
  18. ^ "Bhutto's Widower Wins Pakistani Presidency". The New York Times. New York, NY: The New York Times Company. September 6, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Zardari front-runner
  20. ^ afp.google.com, Bhutto's widower set to become Pakistan president
  21. ^ thenews.com.pk, Presidential election polling completed in Senate, underway in assemblies
  22. ^ Jane Perlez, "Bhutto's widower takes office in Pakistan", International Herald Tribune, 9 September 2008.
  23. ^ Profile: Asif Ali Zardari
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Political offices
Preceded by President of Pakistan
2008 – present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
2007 – present
With Bilawal Bhutto Zardari 		Incumbent
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