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MR. ASIF ALI ZARDARI
 President Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Asif Ali Zardari was born on 26 July 1955 to a Baloch family from Sindh province.

After receiving secondary education at Cadet College Petaro he pursued his education in London in Business.

He was married to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in 1987 who, a year later, became the Muslim World’s first woman Prime Minister in 1988 and went to serve as PM for two terms first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. Ms. Bhutto was assassinated in an attack in Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007.

They have three children, Bilawal, Bakhatwar, and Aseefa.

Mr. Zardari’s political career spans over a quarter of a century.

He served as a Member of the National Assembly twice (1990-1993 and 1993-1996), as Federal Minister for Environment (1993-1996), and as Federal Minister for Investment (1995-1996). In 1997, he was elected Senator and served in that capacity until the dissolution of the Senate in 1999.

During this period, he helped formulate policies that expanded media freedoms and access, revolutionized telecommunications, and opened Pakistan for foreign direct investment.

During his wife’s first term in office, Mr. Zardari initiated broadcasting rights to CNN and BBC in Pakistan and introduced mobile telephone services nationwide. During her second term, Mr. Zardari was a principal architect in efforts to transform Pakistan’s power sector by encouraging major investment through independent power producers (IPPs). He was also a key initiator of the Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline project besides encouraging the introduction of FM radio in the private sector.

Mr. Zardari has spent 11 years of his life behind bars without any court conviction during which he was also tortured. The Supreme Court declared that the trial court which initially sentenced him was biased and his conviction overturned.

After the assassination of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Mr. Zardari was asked by the Central Executive Committee of the PPP to serve as Chairman of the Party. Although he was elected unopposed, he nominated his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for that role and volunteered to serve the Party as its Co-Chairman.

In 2008 under his watch the PPP’s candidate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was unanimously elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Subsequently within few months as Co-Chairman of the Party Zardari drew up strategic plans to oust in August 2008 a dictator from the Presidency. In September that year Mr. Zardari was elected as President of Pakistan.

Under his watch for the first time a woman was elected as Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly and another woman appointed as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

As President he voluntarily transferred all the constitutional key powers of the President to the elected parliament including the Strategic Nuclear Command Authority placing it under the Prime Minister.

Under his watch also the historic 18th Constitutional Amendment was passed unanimously by the Parliament. It not only purged the constitution of the dictatorial article in it by a previous military dictator but also expanded the frontiers of political, legislative and financial boundaries of the federating units.

Asif Ali Zardari gave political ownership to the fight against militants and changed the province name to “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” to give its people their distinct identity.

Pakistan and China on 22 May 2013 inked several Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) that mainly included the long-term Economic Corridor plan, maritime cooperation and satellite navigation. The visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang marked the signing of important documents aimed at long-term cooperation between the two countries in multiple areas.

It was under his watch that for the first time in the country’s history both the Parliament and the President completed their constitutional terms in office. He served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.

Mr. Zardari continued to play a key role in the PPP in the years after his presidency. He announced his intention to contest the legislative elections, after which he entered the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018.

As President he voluntarily transferred all the constitutional key powers of the President to the elected parliament. His visionary ethos gave the country the historic 18th constitutional Amendment which was passed unanimously by the parliament. For the first time in the history of Pakistan both the parliament and president completed their constitutional terms in office.

Following the successful presidential election, Mr. Zardari has been elected as the 14th President of Pakistan. He took the oath of the office of the President of Pakistan on 10th March, 2024.

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