Pakistan elects Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain first female PM Benazir Bhutto, as president for second time

Zardari, the co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), becomes the first civilian who is elected as president for a second term. He completed his first five-year term in 2013.

According to unofficial results announced by his son and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Zardari secured 411 votes after winning in national and three provincial assemblies.

The election was seen as smooth sailing for the candidate of the ruling alliance of at least six major political parties, including the party of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party from the southwestern province of Balochistan, had the support of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Achakzai secured 181 votes, according to unofficial results.

The president is elected through a secret ballot by the electoral college comprising the Senate, the national assembly and four provincial assemblies.

Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, chairman of PTI, said Zardari’s election was “unconstitutional”.

The party is fighting a case for allocation of seats reserved for women and minorities in the assembly and has raised objections over the election.

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Pakistan’s history of jailed leaders

Zardari, 68, was born in Karachi to Hakim Ali Zardari, head of a Sindhi tribe and politician. In 1987, he was married to Benazir Bhutto in an arranged marriage.

He is one of the most controversial political figures of the country who spent more than 10 years in jail and was labelled as “Mr 10 Per cent” for the alleged cut he took during his wife’s terms as prime minister.

Despite his reputation, Zardari led the party and won a sympathy vote after his wife was assassinated in a bomb and gun attack in 2007.

He took over as