Profile: Asif Ali Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari
Candidate's Party Affiliation

Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians

Introduction

Asif Ali Zardari is the chief of the Zardari tribe and the husband of
former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. He served as a member
of the National Assembly, and as environment minister during the
second term of his wife's premiership. His last position in the
government of Pakistan was as a senator until 1999 when the senate and
assemblies were dissolved by Gen. Pervez Musharraf who took over the
reins of the government in a coup against the then Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif.

History and Background

In 1990, he was arrested on charges of blackmail, based on allegations
that he attached a bomb to a Pakistani businessman, Murtaza Bukhari,
and forced him to withdraw money from his bank account . However, the
charges
were not proven and he was released from prison in 1993 when
Pakistan People's Party took power. During the final days of his
wife's second premiership, just before her government was dissolved by
the then president, Farooq Leghari, his brother in law Murtaza Bhutto
was assassinated. He was subsequently arrested on murder charges in
1996. The verdict was set aside following a major scandal, when audio
tapes titled 'murdering justice' were revealed. These tapes proved
Zardari had nothing to do with the murder and the accountability
bureau was blackmailing the judge to issue a guilty verdict.

Early Years

He was kept in custody from 1997 to 2004 on charges ranging from
corruption to murder, all of which were never proven. He was granted
bail and released in November 2004 when a judge said the cases were
all false. However, he was re-arrested on 21 December 2004 after his
failure to attend a hearing in a
murder trial in Karachi. He was
charged with conspiracy in the 1996 killing of a judge and his son.
These charges coincided with his plans to launch massive protests in
the country.

Current Status

Zardari is currently lives in NY but also has a home in Dubai. He is
suffering from diabetes and a spinal ailment as a result of his
prolonged imprisonment.

In August 2004, Zardari acknowledged owning a £4.35m estate in Surrey,
England 1.5 km², of land>, which the Pakistani authorities allege was bought
with the proceeds of corruption. However, a British court cleared him
of these allegations in 2006.

Zardari has spent a total of 11 years in prison, without ever being
convicted. He says that the charges are politically motivated.