Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari (Urdu: آصف علی زرداری, Sindhi: آصف علي زرداري, born July 26, 1955) is 11 and current president of Pakistan and co-chairman of Pakistan People's Party (PPP). He is also the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two terms as prime minister inconsistent.

Baluchi tribe based in Sindh, Zardari became known after her marriage to Benazir Bhutto in 1987. Zardari was widely known as "Mr. 10 percent" during Bhutto prime minister for alleged involvement in obtaining bribes as a middleman in the transactions of government. His political career has been mired in accusations of corruption, for which he was imprisoned from 1990 to 1993 and from 1996 to 2004. Between 1993 and 1996, he held several ministerial posts in Bhutto's second government. During this period, its expansion into the web of the Bhutto family dispute over the future leadership of the PPP led him to be suspected and later charged with orchestrating the sudden death of Murtaza Bhutto.

He was arrested on corruption charges in late 1996 after the collapse of the government of Bhutto. In prison, he served on the nominally Parliament after being elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and the Senate in 1997. He was released from prison in mid-2004 rumors of reconciliation between Musharraf and PPP. He then went into self-exile in Dubai, but he returned in December 2007 after the assassination of Bhutto. As co-chairman of PPP, he led his party to victory in the 2008-election. He led a coalition that forced Musharraf to resign and was elected president Sept. 6, 2008.

As president, Asif Ali Zardari was still strong ally in U.S. war in Afghanistan, despite public disapproval of the nation's dominant share in the conflict. He was criticized in 2008 after internal flirted with U.S. Vice President candidate, Sarah Palin. In late 2008, his government won a record three-year loan of several billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund in an effort to bring the nation into an economic crisis. In early 2009, his attempt to prevent the reinstatement of the judges of the Supreme Court ruled in the face of mass protests led by Nawaz Sharif, his main political rival. Approval of Amendment 18 in 2010 reduced presidential powers to the majority of a ceremonial figure. He again attracted widespread clamor for her trip to Europe in mid-2010 floods devastating across Pakistan.