Zardari returns as Pakistan president
Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Pakistan’s slain first female premier Benazir Bhutto who has had a life storied equally by tragedy and farce, was on Saturday voted president for a second time.
Initially a background character as Bhutto’s consort, Zardari was stained by corruption charges and other allegations, including absurd kidnapping plots and taking kickbacks lavished on jewelry.
Despite a reputation as “Mr. Ten Percent” — the alleged cut he took for rubber-stamping contracts — a sympathy vote propelled him to office when his wife was assassinated in a 2007 bomb and gun attack.
Between 2008 and 2013, he ushered in constitutional reforms rolling back presidential powers, and the 68-year-old’s second term will see him steer a largely ceremonial office.
He has spent more than 11 years in jail, a long time even by the standards of Pakistani politicians, with a wheeler-dealer’s talent for bouncing back after scandals.
Back in 2009, the New York Times said he had a knack for “artful dodging” — “maneuvering himself out of the tight spots he gets himself into.”
Newly sworn-in national and provincial lawmakers and senators voted him in under the terms of a coalition deal brokered after February 8 elections marred by rigging claims.
Under that deal, Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party took the presidency, while its historic rivals the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party secured the prime minister’s position for Shehbaz Sharif, who was officially sworn in on Monday.
Zardari is expected to take his oath on Sunday.