Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari
آصف علي زرداري
Zardari in 2024
11th & 14th President of Pakistan
Incumbent
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
Incumbent
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
Preceded by	Lilo Elizabeth Richter (caretaker) Kulsoom Nawaz
Succeeded by	Kulsoom Nawaz
In office 2 December 1988 – 6 August 1990
Prime Minister	Benazir Bhutto
Preceded by	Begum Junejo
Succeeded by	Kulsoom Nawaz
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 November 1993 – 1996
President	Farooq Leghari
Prime Minister	Benazir Bhutto
Member of National Assembly of Pakistan
In office 18 November 1985 – 9 March 2024
Succeeded by	Aseefa Bhutto Zardari
Constituency	NA-207 Nawabshah-I
Personal details
Born	(1955-07-26) 26 July 1955 Karachi, Federal Capital Territory, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan People's Party
Spouse(s)	Benazir Bhutto ​ ( m. 1987; died 2007)
Children	Bilawal Zardari Bakhtawar Zardari Aseefa Zardari
Parent(s)	Hakim Ali Zardari Bilquis Sultana
Relatives	See Zardari family

Asif Ali Zardari (born on 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who has been serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 2024. He previously held the presidency from 2008 to 2013 and is notable for being the first head of state born after Pakistan's independence. Zardari is also the current president of the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and is the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He was a member of the National Assembly from 2018 to 2023 and is currently serving again in 2024.

Zardari, the son of landowner Hakim Ali Zardari from Sindh, gained prominence after marrying Benazir Bhutto in 1987, who became Prime Minister following the 1988 elections. When President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed Bhutto's government in 1990, Zardari faced widespread criticism over corruption allegations linked to that political turmoil. Upon Bhutto's re-election in 1993, he was appointed Federal Investment Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council. Tensions escalated between Zardari and Bhutto's brother Murtaza, who was tragically killed by police in Karachi on 20 September 1996. Following this, Bhutto's government was ousted by President Farooq Leghari a month later, leading to Zardari's arrest and indictment for both Murtaza's murder and corruption.

Despite being imprisoned, Zardari was elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and the Senate in 1997. He was released in 2004 and initially went into self-imposed exile in Dubai but returned after Bhutto's assassination on 27 December 2007. As co-chairman of the PPP, he guided his party to victory in the 2008 general elections, forming a coalition that compelled military ruler Pervez Musharraf to resign. Zardari was subsequently elected president on 06 September 2008, and was acquitted of various criminal charges that same year.

During his presidency, Zardari maintained strong ties with the United States in the context of the Afghanistan war, despite significant public dissatisfaction following incidents like the Raymond Davis case and the NATO attack in Salala in 2011. Domestically, he successfully passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 2010, which constitutionally limited his presidential powers. However, he faced challenges when he attempted to block the reinstatement of Supreme Court judges, leading to massive protests led by rival Nawaz Sharif. The restored Supreme Court dismissed Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani of the PPP in 2012 for contempt of court after he refused to contact the Swiss government regarding reopening corruption cases against Zardari. His administration also faced criticism for its handling of the devastating floods in 2010 and increasing terrorist violence. After a series of bomb attacks on the Hazara community in Quetta in early 2013, Zardari dismissed the provincial government in Balochistan.

As his term drew to a close, Zardari's approval ratings plummeted, ranging from 11% to 14%. Following the PPP's significant defeat in the 2013 general elections, Zardari made history as the first elected president to complete his constitutional term on 09 September 2013. His legacy remains contentious, with many political analysts accusing his government of corruption and nepotism. Nevertheless, he returned to the presidency in March 2024 due to a coalition agreement established after the 2024 Pakistani general election.