Asif Ali Zardari has proved his mettle and survival instincts in the past.
The PPP co-chairperson on Saturday again made a startling comeback by winning the presidential election with a major parliamentary vote and earning the title of the 14th head of the state. He has served as the president of the country earlier as well.
Zardari, who took over the reins of the PPP after his wife and former premier Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December 2007, emerged victorious in the presidential election this time around after his party struck a coalition agreement with the PML-N.
In exchange, the PPP had backed PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif in becoming the prime minister following the February 8 general elections.
The Shehbaz-Zardari duo is the new face of the apparently firm-footed coalition government.
Previously, Shehbaz led a coalition government for 16 months after the then opposition ousted PTI’s Imran Khan from the premiership in April 2022 through a no-confidence resolution.
Zardari had earlier completed his five-year term as the president of the country in 2013.
Both Shehbaz and Zardari have returned to their previous roles now and sit at the pinnacle of their political careers.
Earlier, Zardari was dubbed as an accidental beneficiary entering the presidency. However, this time around, he ensured that the timely wheeling and dealing between the two major political parties – his PPP and the PML-N -- paved the way for his return to the presidency.
In line with Zardari’s easy win in the vote involving legislators from parliament and four provincial assemblies, there are hopes that the duo’s rule will mark a new phase of stability in the country.
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Both have earned the reputation of being pragmatic politicians and the ones who do not want confrontation with the ‘powerful circles’ -- at least not for now.
Additionally, they both are on the same page when it comes to dealing with economics issues. They have frequently emphasised on the need to sign a charter of economy in order to overcome the country’s financial woes.
Throughout Zardari’s political career, the shrewd politician has faced a raft of cases and remained in jail on various charges over the years.
Nicknamed “Mr 10%”, Zardari spent 11 years in jail on corruption charges before becoming the president in 2008. Although the allegations of corruption always chased him, the PPP co-chairperson and his party members have always maintained his innocence as neither has any graft charges proven against him, nor has he even been convicted by the courts.
Despite his tumultuous political career, Zardari made history by surrendering the powers of the president during his last stint.
It was Zardari, who being the president, had reduced his position to a ceremonial figurehead by removing the head of the state’s power to dissolve parliament, dismiss the premier, and appoint military chiefs when the then PPP government passed the 18th Constitutional Amendment in April 2010.
He also surrendered the power to appoint the chief election commissioner by substituting it with a mechanism that involved the opposition in the process.
All of these moves were not only unprecedented but showed Zardari’s vision and maturity as a politician.
With his permanent gleeful smile, his decision to involve political opponents in making constitutional appointments shows the kind of tolerance level he wishes to see in the country, which is otherwise engulfed by polarisation.
Before he cast his vote in the presidential election on Saturday, Zardari while responding to a question said parliament had acted properly in the past and he was just an “adviser”.
He was giving a hint that the ‘adviser’ had unfinished business in parliament that he would like to accomplish in his second stint.
Slogans of “Jeay Bhutto” and “Zinda Hai Bibi Zinda Hai [Long Live Bhutto] and [Bibi Is Alive]” were shouted in the National Assembly hall to remember the executed PPP founder and former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as well as his daughter, ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, when the presiding officer, Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, announced the result of the presidential election.
Out of the 336-seat NA and 96-member Senate, Zardari obtained 255 votes while his opponent, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who was backed by the lawmakers of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which primarily comprised of PTI-backed members, received 119.
The members of the four provincial assemblies also voted at the chambers of their respective legislatures in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.
In the Punjab Assembly, Zardari garnered 246 votes while Achakzai trailed with 100.
The Sindh Assembly results showed Zardari securing 151 votes against Achakzai's nine. In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Achakzai bagged 91 votes while Zardari received 17.
Notably, in the Balochistan Assembly, Zardari received 47 votes while Achakzai failed to secure a single one from the province.
According to a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) following the poll, the ruling coalition’s candidate secured 411 votes, while the PTI-backed candidate received 181 votes from the Electoral College.
The total number of seats in the Electoral College was 1,185 out of which 92 were vacant, the ECP noted, adding that the remaining 1,093 voters were to exercise their right to vote.
The commission said 1,044 votes were cast – out of which nine were declared invalid.
Therefore, it pointed out that the total number of valid votes cast was 1,035.
“On the basis of [the] total valid votes cast in favour of each candidate, the result has been determined in the light of the provisions of paragraph-18 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution according to which, Mr. Asif Ail Zardari has secured 411 votes whereas Mr. Mehmood Khan Achakzai has secured 181 votes,” the notification read.
Zardari is expected to be sworn in on Sunday (today). It is expected that PM Shehbaz would also announce the names of his cabinet on the same day.
Zardari will then administer the oath of office to the new cabinet members, paving the way for the PML-N-led coalition government to practically begin its five-year long constitutional journey.
Amid rigging allegations as well other challenges ranging from economic troubles to political and security challenges, the Shehbaz-Zardari duo seems to be poised to deal with the problems as a united force.
However, only time will tell how far they can move together, especially, when they are nearly at the end of their political careers.
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