Asif Ali Zardari elected as Pakistan’s 14th President

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Asif Ali Zardari elected as the 14th president of Pakistan on Saturday after securing an overwhelming majority on Saturday, defeating the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed candidate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

Zardari securing 255 votes in a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate for the presidential election, according to unofficial reports. His opponent, SIC-backed Mahmood Khan Achakzai, managed just 119 votes.

Zardari, widower of Pakistan’s late first female premier Benazir Bhutto, has faced numerous allegations of corruption and other charges, including involvement in kidnapping plots and receiving kickbacks. Despite these controversies, a sympathy vote following his wife’s assassination in a 2007 bomb and gun attack has seemingly propelled him to office.

411 PPP
181 SIC

Congratulations President elect Zardari @AAliZardari

Ab Sadar Banega Zardari pic.twitter.com/peJwjjCyYF

— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) March 9, 2024

The new president will replace the incumbent, Dr Arif Alvi, whose five-year term ended last year. However, Dr. Alvi has continued in office since the new electoral college had not yet been formed.

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Despite his reputation as “Mr 10 Per Cent” – a nickname alluding to the alleged cut he purportedly took for rubber-stamping contracts – Asif Ali Zardari’s reached to office was fueled by a sympathy vote following the assassination of his wife in a 2007 bomb and gun attack.