Asif Ali Zardari
This article contains Urdu text. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters running left to right or other symbols instead of Urdu script. Asif Ali Zardari (Balochi: زرداری بلوچ ) (Urdu: آصف علی زرداری , Sindhi: آصف علي زرداري; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician and current co-chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party. He served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. He is the first ever democratically elected president of Pakistan to have completed his five year tenure. A Sindhi from a landowning tribe of Hooth Baloch origin, Zardari rose to prominence after his marriage to Benazir Bhutto in 1987, becoming the First Gentleman. Between 1993 and 1996, he held various cabinet positions in the second Bhutto administration including Federal Investment Minister, and Chairperson Pakistan Environmental Protection Council (PAEC). He was arrested on charges of corruption in late 1996, following the collapse of the Bhutto government. Although incarcerated, he nominally served in Parliament after being elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and Senate in 1997. He was released from jail in 2004. He subsequently went into self-exile in Dubai, but returned in December 2007 after Bhutto's assassination. As the Co-Chairman of the PPP, he led his party to victory in the 2008 general elections. He spearheaded a coalition that forced Musharraf to resign and was elected President on 6 September 2008. As president, Zardari had been a consistently strong U.S. ally in the war in Afghanistan, despite prevalent public disapproval of the nation's involvement in the conflict. In late 2008, his government obtained a three-year multi-billion dollar loan package from the International Monetary Fund in an effort to steer the nation out of an economic crisis. In early 2009, his attempt to prevent the reinstatement of Supreme Court judges failed in the face of massive protests led by Nawaz Sharif, his chief political rival. His achievements included the passage of the 18th Amendment in 2010 which reduced his vast presidential powers to that of a ceremonial figurehead. He also held the honor of being the 1st president to address the joint session of parliament for a record six times. His successor Mamnoon Hussain was elected on 30 July 2013. On 8 September 2013, Zardari became the country's first president to complete his constitutional term and handed over duties to a democratically elected successor.