[/caption]Asif Ali Zardari, 52, widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party was elected as president of Pakistan on September 6. His announcement to contest presidential election opened a floodgate of critical stories about the man who will lead the destiny of some 180 million, mostly poor, Pakistanis.
Zardari has spent almost 11 years in jail on corruption and criminal charges, though he has not been convicted in any of court cases. He was labeled as "Mr 10 percent" during the first tenure (1988-1990) of his wife as prime minister for allegedly having a cut in every business in the country.
After his wife was assassinated in a gun and suicide attack on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining capital Islamabad, Zardari was made co-chairman of PPP. Zardari did not contest general election held on February 18, but his party got most seats, trouncing the allies of former president Pervez Musharraf.
The PPP formed coalition government and got rid of Musharraf with the help of former premier Nawaz Sharif on August 18 after the coalition threatened to impeach the former army chief over constitutional violations.
Now the field is open for Mr Zardari and he is most likely to be elected as two other candidates Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of Pakistan Muslim League-Q and former Supreme Court chief Justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui fielded by Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N apparently have not enough votes.
Critics say that Mr Zardari should not become president, because his controversial past would cast a shadow over the office of the president, which is the symbol of the unity of Pakistan, but supporters say that he heads the largest political party in Pakistan which is considered a federal party and has every right be elevated as the head of the state.
Here is an official profile of Mr Zardari.
a. Asif Ali Zardari son of Mr. Hakim Ali Zardari, born on 26 July 1955 at Nawabshah-Pakistan
On his maternal side, he is great grandson of Khan Bahadar Hasan Ali Effendi who was the founder of the Sindh Madarssa. The Madarssa was first modern school for Muslims in Sindh. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also a student at the Sindh Maddarssa.
b. Social Status :
i.  Director - M/s Zardari Group (Pvt.) Ltd.
ii. Agriculturist
c. Political  Status :
i.  Member National Assembly 1990-93 and 1993-96
ii. Federal Minister of the Environment 1993-1996
iii. Federal Minister of Investment 1995-96
Transformed the power sector by encouraging major investment opportunities in the power policy of
Pakistan. He was also the architect of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.
iv. Senator 1997 - 1999
v.  Co-Chairman, Pakistan Peoples Party - 2008 onwards
d. Marital Status :
Widower - (Wife: Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, former twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan)
and has three children, Bilawal, born on 21 September 1988 in Karachi, Bakhtwar, born in 1990
and Aseefa, born in 1993.
e. Political background :
Mr. Zardari spent 20 years working with former Prime Minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. He spent 11 and a half years in prison in conditions often unacceptable by human rights standards, without a single case successfully proven against him. Despite many offers from the government of the time to leave the 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.
After the assassination of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Mr. Zardari was elected unopposed by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Party Peoples Party and asked to become Chairman of the Party. He nominated his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for that role and instead accepted the job of 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 on 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 Yusaf Raza Gillani was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan unopposed. 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 the 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 Pakistan's four provinces.
Most recently the PPP, under Mr. Zardari's leadership, removed General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the unconstitutional President of Pakistan, in a historic move, through a series of complex negotiations and political diplomacy. Mr. Zardari united all the major political parties and this unprecedented act was accomplished without any violence.
On August 22, 2008, the PPP has given a unanimous call for Mr. Zardari to be the PPP's candidate for the office of the President of Pakistan.
Comments
As I cannot allow my security guards to take control of my home, just like that I cannot allow a general to loot power at gunpoint.
We do need a worthy, sincere leadership but first we need a truly sincere nation !
It has already started, Mr.____ %; ask textile ppl (subsidy or.. )and the oil tanker association..
Allah help us help ourselves..