Asif Ali Zardari was born on 26 July 1955 to a Baloch family from Sindh province.

 After receiving his early education at Karachi Grammar School, he went to Cadet College Petaro. Later, he pursued his education in London.

 He was married to Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in 1987 who, a year later, became the Muslim World’s first woman Prime Minister (PM) in 1988 and went on to serve as PM for two terms, first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. Ms Bhutto was assassinated in an attack in Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007.

 They have three children, Bilawal, Bakhatwar, and Aseefa.

 Mr Zardari’s political career spans over a quarter of a century.

 He served as a Member of the National Assembly from 1990-1993 and 1993-1996, as Federal Minister for Environment 1993-1996, and as Federal Minister for Investment 1995-1996. In 1997, he was elected Senator and served in that capacity until the dissolution of the Senate in 1999.

 In 2008, the PPP’s candidate Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani was unanimously elected as Prime Minister of Pakistan. In September that year, Mr Zardari was elected as the 11th   President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.

 As President, he voluntarily transferred all the constitutional key powers of the President to the elected parliament. His visionary ethos gave the country the historic 18th constitutional Amendment which was passed unanimously by the parliament. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, both the parliament and president completed their constitutional terms in office.

 Following the successful presidential election, Mr Zardari has been elected as the 14th President of Pakistan. He took the oath of the office of the President of Pakistan on 10th March 2024.