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Asif Ali Zardari آصف علی زرداری

President of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 September 2008
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Muhammad Mian Soomro (Acting)
Co-Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 December 2007 Serving with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
Preceded by	Benazir Bhutto

Born	26 July 1955 (1955-07-26) (age 53) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan¹
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Spouse	Benazir Bhutto (Deceased in 2007)
Children	Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari Asifa Bhutto Zardari
Residence	Islamabad, Pakistan
Religion	Muslim - Shi'a²³
Website	PPP website

He is one of the richest men in Pakistan with a net worth of US$1.8 billion (2005).⁴

Early Life and Education

Asif Zardari belongs to a Shi'a muslim family² from the town of Nawabshah in Sindh. He is the son of Hakim Ali Zardari,a famous Pakistani Feudal Lord and A politician in Pakistani Politics since the 1970s and the leader of the Zardari Clan. Asif acquired his high school education from the Cadet College Petaro. This is the only education he received. However, while trying to run for parliament, that requires its members to have a bachelors degree due to the 17th amendment, Zardari claimed to have graduated from a college in London which did not exist. ⁵ ⁶

Until his marriage with Benazir Bhutto on 18 December 1987, he was a relatively unknown figure on the political scene of Pakistan owing all if any reputation to his father rais Hakim Ali's role in Politics.

Member of National Assembly

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).^{citation needed} Initially he was very interested in the Finance Ministry, but Bhutto opted to put him in a non-revenue generating department instead.^{citation needed} 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.^{citation needed}

Co-chairman of the PPP

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007, shortly after returning to Pakistan from exile. On 30 December 2007, Asif Ali Zardari anointed himself as 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.

After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Zardari reaffirmed his lack of interest in the prime ministership.⁷⁸ 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.⁹ 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.¹⁰ On 5 March 2008, Mr Zardari was cleared of five corruption charges only because the courts "abolished the cases against all public office holders",¹¹ including corruption and illegal use of property under NRO, the National Reconciliation Ordinance¹² He had another trial on the remaining charges on 14 April 2008, when he was cleared under the same NRO.¹³ 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 majority¹⁴ 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.¹⁵ 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.¹⁶ 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.¹⁷¹⁶ Many analysts have predicted that if Zardari is elected President, Pakistan's political, economical and financial position will surely suffer heavily.^{citation needed}

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.²⁰ BBC reported that Zardari "won 481 votes, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory."²¹ 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."²²

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 during times of military rule.²³²⁴ Voting was in progress at the Parliament House, while the Senate members finished casting their votes.²⁵

Zardari was sworn in by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar in a ceremony at the presidential palace on September 9, 2008.²⁶ He addressed the parliament for the first time on September 20, 2008, but the event was overshadowed by the suicide bomb blast which destroyed the Marriott Hotel, Islamabad. Zardari picked China for first state visit after being elected in September, though he went to the United States last month to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

With the election of Asif Ali Zardari, the balance shifts heavily in favor of the president, thus compromising the spirit of parliamentary democracy^{neutrality disputed}. President Zardari’s position as the co-chairman of the ruling party makes him a kind of super prime minister. Furthermore, the judges deposed on November 2, 2007 by President Musharraf have not been restored and so the superior judiciary comes under the influence of the newly elected president.

Controversies

Oath controversy

Although Asif Ali Zardari was elected constitutionally, he was administered the oath of office by Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar who took oath as Chief Justice of Pakistan under the Provisional Constitutional Order.²⁷ Earlier, a supreme court ruling by a 7-member bench of the SC had overturned the PCO. The ruling by the 7-member bench stated:²⁸

"Appointment of the chief justice or judges of the Supreme Court or chief justices of the high courts under the new PCO would be unlawful and without jurisdiction."

Hence, Dogar's oath under PCO was in violation of the Supreme Court ruling quoted above. In the opinion of some the top constitutional experts in Pakistan, Zardari's oath administered by the de facto Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar is not legitimate.²⁹

Money Laundering

Zardari was accused of money-laundering activities in a US Senate report on private banking and money-laundering.³⁰

Zardari remains under criminal investigation in Switzerland over reciepts of kickbacks from two Swiss-based companies while his wife, the late Benazir Bhutto, served as the country's prime minister in the 1990s, a Swiss judge and two Swiss lawyers close to the case told NEWSWEEK. Judge Daniel Devaud is to continue investigations despite pressure from US officials, he is the investigating magistrate in Geneva who has handled many high-profile investigations into laundering of corrupt payments through Switzerland by foreign politicians. ³¹

NRO beneficiary

Zardari is a beneficiary of the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance)³² issued by the former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. Chief beneficiaries of this ordinance include Asif Ali Zardari, Rehman Malik and MQM workers and leaders.

Meeting with Governor Sarah Palin

While in US, Mr. Asif Zardari met Governor Sarah Palin, the U.S. Republican Party's Vice Presidential candidate. He told her that she is "gorgeous" and said: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you." When the photographers asked the two to keep shaking hands, he replied: "If he insists, I might hug you." These remarks sparked controversy in Pakistan, where members of the public accused the president of flirting with Governor Palin when Pakistan is passing through difficult times.³³

Outstanding Legal Cases

The most significant European cases are a Swiss money-laundering inquiry and a British civil case.

But in 2003, a Swiss investigative magistrate decided he had evidence of Zardari and Bhutto after pursuing a money trail from offshore companies in the Caribbean to banks in Geneva to a jewelry shop here.

Judge Daniel Devaud took advantage of a Swiss law allowing investigative magistrates to issue a summary verdict if they think the evidence is strong, and convicted Zardari and Bhutto of money laundering. A new magistrate reopened the investigation on charges of aggravated money laundering, a more serious offense based on the suspicion of systematic criminal activity. “Mr. Zardari denies having committed any crime whatsoever,” the lawyer, Saverio Lembo, said in an interview before Bhutto’s assassination.

In his 2003 verdict, the Swiss judge connected Zardari to a chain of corruption that began with two Swiss companies, Cotecna and SGS. Starting in 1994, company executives courted Zardari in hopes of landing a contract to provide container inspection equipment and expertise to the Pakistani customs agency, according to Swiss court records.

As part of a secret deal, the judge found, the Swiss contractors funneled $11.9 million in bribes into three offshore firms in the British Virgin Islands and ultimately into bank accounts in Geneva. The nominal owners of two companies were Bhutto’s mother and brother-in-law, according to the records.

The judge found that Zardari owned the third company, Bomer Finance, which received about $8 million, and that “Bhutto shares with her husband the assets” and “has power of disposition” over the company, according to the documents.

In Britain, the decade-old civil proceedings focus on Zardari. Zardari is accused of using illicit funds to acquire the 365-acre Rockwood estate, a $6.5-million property featuring a Tudor-style mansion and two adjoining farms in the Surrey district. The estate was bought and refurbished in 1995 through trusts in the Isle of Man and Liechtenstein and the Caribbean firms linked to Bhutto, Zardari and the alleged kickbacks, according to the lawsuit.

Zardari steadfastly denied ownership until January 2006, when he acknowledged he owned the property, according to British court records. The judge did rule that there is a “reasonable prospect” of proving that funds used to refurbish the estate were “the fruits of corruption,” according to the documents. ³⁴

Political offices
Preceded by Muhammad Mian Soomro Acting	President of Pakistan 2008 – present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Benazir Bhutto	Co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party 2007 – present With Bilawal Bhutto Zardari	Incumbent

Persondata
NAME	Zardari, Asif Ali
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	آصف علی زرداری
SHORT DESCRIPTION	12th President of Pakistan
DATE OF BIRTH	1955-7-26
PLACE OF BIRTH	Karachi, Pakistan
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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