Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 14th president of Pakistan since 10 March 2024.

He is the president of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party.

Zardari was born on 26 July 1955 in Karachi, Sindh to a prominent Sindhi family and received his upbringing and education in Karachi.

He belongs to the Zardari family and is the only son of Hakim Ali Zardari, a tribal chief and prominent landowner, and Bilquis Sultana Zardari.

His paternal grandmother was of Iraqi descent, while his mother was the granddaughter of Hassan Ali Effendi, a Sindhi educationist who is known as the founder of the Sindh Madressatul Islam.

In his youth, he enjoyed polo and boxing.

He led a polo team known as the Zardari Four.

His father owned Bambino —a famous cinema in Karachi—and donated movie equipment to his school.

He also appeared in a 1969 movie, Salgira, as a child.

Zardari's academic background remains a question mark.

He received his primary education from Karachi Grammar School.

His official biography says he graduated from Cadet College, Petaro in 1972.

He went to St Patrick's High School, Karachi from 1973 to 1974; a school clerk says he failed his final examination there.

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.

Although incarcerated, he nominally served in Parliament after being elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and Senate in 1997.

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.

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.

The issue of his diploma was contentious because a 2002 rule required candidates for Parliament to hold a college degree, but the rule was overturned by Pakistan's Supreme Court in April 2008.

He was released from jail in 2004 and went into self-exile to Dubai, but returned when Bhutto was assassinated on 27 December 2007.

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.

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.

In March 2008, he claimed he had graduated from the London School of Business Studies with a bachelor of education degree in the early 1970s.

Zardari's official biography states he also attended Pedinton School in Britain.

His British education, however, has not been confirmed, and a search did not turn up any Pedinton School in London.

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.

Zardari's tenure was also criticised for mishandling nationwide floods in 2010, and growing terrorist violence.

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.

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.

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%.

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.

His legacy remains divisive, with political observers accusing his administration of corruption and cronyism.

However, he is scheduled to become President of Pakistan again in March 2024 due to a coalition agreement which was reached following the 2024 Pakistani general election.

He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018.