Asif Ali Zardari has become the 14th President of Pakistan after securing a resounding victory on Saturday. This marks his second term as the country’s civilian president, a notable feat in a nation historically prone to military coups.
Asif Ali Zardari, serving as the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, emerged as the joint candidate of the ruling alliance comprising the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). His opponent, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), was nominated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan and supported by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
President-elect Asif Ali Zardari is set to take the oath of office on Sunday at the President House, with Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa presiding over the ceremony.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) highlighted that Zardari’s election for a second term makes him the first civilian president in Pakistan’s history to achieve this feat. “Asif Ali Zardari is the first civilian president in the history of Pakistan who was elected for a second term,” the PPP posted on X soon after the election results were announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Asif Ali Zardari, 68, secured a resounding victory in the presidential election with 255 votes, while his 75-year-old opponent, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, received 119 votes from the combined National Assembly and Senate.
His victory was supported by a strong mandate from the electoral college, consisting of the newly elected members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies. In the Sindh Assembly, where Zardari’s PPP holds sway, he secured 58 votes. Additionally, he secured a clean sweep in the Balochistan Assembly, receiving all 47 votes. In the Punjab Assembly, where the PML-N governs, Zardari garnered 43 votes, while Achakzai received 18 votes.
A former businessman turned politician, Asif Ali Zardari, holds a significant political legacy as the husband of the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Zardari’s past has been marred by allegations of corruption during his wife’s two terms as prime minister, earning him the moniker “Mr 10 per cent” for his alleged involvement in bribery related to development projects.
Despite facing numerous corruption charges and spending time behind bars, Zardari managed to clear his name of all accusations. As he embarks on his second term, Pakistan grapples with economic and political challenges, testing Zardari’s ability to foster reconciliation among divergent ideologies.
