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 Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
PPP
Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari was born on July 26, 1955 in a
prominent Baloch family from Sindh. He is the son of veteran
politician Mr. Hakim Ali Zardari. On his maternal side he is
the great-grandson of Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi, the
founder of the first educational institution for Muslims in
Sindh. The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali
Jinnah was among the prominent students to graduate from the
Sindh Madressah.
Mr Zardari received his primary education at the Karachi
Grammar School and his secondary education at Cadet College
Petaro. He pursued his further education in London where he
studied Business.
He was married to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in 1987 and
was widowed on December 27, 2007 when Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto was assassinated in a terrorist attack in Rawalpindi.
Ms Bhutto was PPP Chairperson from 1979 until her
assassination and was twice elected Prime Minister of
Pakistan. They have three children, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,
born in 1988, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, born in 1990 and
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, born in 1993.
Mr Zardari served as a Member of the National Assembly twice
(1990-93 and 1993-96), as Federal Minister for the Environment
(1993-1996) and as Federal Minister for Investment (1995-96).
He was the principal architect of the Benazir Bhutto
government's efforts to transform Pakistan's energy power
sector by encouraging major investment opportunities in power
generation. He was also the initiator of the Iran-Pakistan
natural gas pipeline project.
Mr Zardari was elected Senator in 1997 and served in that
capacity until the dissolution of the Senate following the
military coup of 1999. He was elected Co-Chairman of the
Pakistan Peoples Party in January 2008 following the
assassination of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
Mr. Zardari's political career spans two decades spent working
closely with Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. During this period he
helped formulate policies that expanded the freedom of the
media, revolutionized telecommunications and opened Pakistan
for foreign direct investment. During Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto's first term in office CNN and BBC were allowed
broadcasting rights in Pakistan and mobile telephone services
introduced at Mr Zardari's initiative. During her second term
in office, in addition to the independent power producers (IPPs)
being allowed in, Mr Zardari encouraged the introduction of FM
radio in the private sector.
Mr Zardari was targeted by anti-democratic forces for
vilification and persecution and bore the hardship with
fortitude. He spent eleven and a half years in prison in
conditions often unacceptable by human rights standards,
without any charge ever being proven against him. He won
election as MNA and as senator while in prison. Despite many
offers from the government of the time to leave Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) or to go abroad under a negotiated
political exit, he remained committed to Party goals and
continued his fight for justice and the return of a
democratically elected civilian leadership.
Mr. Zardari was asked by the Central Executive Committee (CEC)
of the Pakistan Peoples Party through unanimous vote to serve
as Chairman of the Party after the assassination of Shaheed
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Although he was elected unopposed, he
nominated his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for that role and
decided to work as Co-Chairman of the PPP. After Ms. Bhutto's
death he has remained in the frontlines of shaping a national
consensus at the federal level through the politics of
reconciliation initiated by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
Under Mr. Zardari's leadership of the Party, the PPP's
candidate for Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was
first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan unopposed and
subsequently endorsed by a unanimous vote of confifence of the
Parliament. This was a singular and unprecedented event in
Pakistan's political history.
Mr. Zardari also spearheaded the appointment of Dr. Fehmida
Mirza as the first female Speaker of Pakistan's National
Assembly, and continues to support the empowerment of women
and minorities in all government policy making.Today, the PPP
government has coalition governments in all of Pakistan's four
provinces.
Most recently the PPP taking measured and orchestiated
political steps, under Mr. Zardari's leadership, removed
General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the unconstitutional
President of Pakistan, from office in a historic move, through
a series of complex negotiations and political diplomacy. Mr.
Zardari united Pakistan's major political parties and this
unprecedented act was accomplished without any violence.
Mr. Zardari was elected President of Pakistan with an
overwhelming majority in the presidential election held on
September 6, 2008.
President Asif Ali Zardari is also Vice President of the
Socialist International, the worldwide organisation of
social-democratic, socialist and labour parties which brings
together 170 political parties and organisations from all
continents. The Socialist International held its 23rd Congress
in Athens, Greece from 30 June to 2 July 2008 with close to
700 representatives from 150 parties and organisations of 120
countries attending. The President of Pakistan (at that time
invited in his capacity as Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples
Party) was elected as a vice-president of the Socialist
International at that meeting. |
