Asif Ali Zardari

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Asif Ali Zardari (born 26 July 1955) is the 11th and current President of Pakistan and the Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Zardari is the widower of Benazir Bhutto, who served two nonconsecutive terms as Prime Minister. When his wife was assassinated in December 2007, he became the leader of the PPP. He successfully led the PPP through general elections in 2008 and led a coalition that forced Pervez Musharraf's resignation. His political career has been mired by corruption allegations, for which he was in prison from 1990–1993 and 1996-2004. He became widely known as "Mr. 10 Percent" during the premiership of Benazir Bhutto because of his alleged role in obtaining kickbacks as an intermediary in government deals. As President, his attempt to prevent the reinstatement of judges failed after massive protests led by Nawaz Sharif, his chief political rival. He suffered further political embarrassment for flirting with Sarah Palin and for going to Europe a few days after the 2010 Pakistan floods.