<\/p>\n
If successful, PPP leader could become the president for the second time.<\/p>\n
Asif Ali Zardari was born in 1955 to a well-known Baloch family from Nawabshah, Sindh. He married Benazir Bhutto, who later became Pakistan\u2019s first female prime minister, in 1987.<\/p>\n
Zardari\u2019s initiation into politics was not very successful but his career began to take off after his marriage to Benazir. In both her governments, he was appointed federal minister \u2014 first with the portfolio of environment and later with that of investment.<\/p>\n
In 1990, he was accused<\/a> of tying a bomb to a businessman\u2019s leg and sending him into a bank to withdraw cash from his account as a pay-off. The charge was never proven and Zardari was released after spending three years in prison.<\/p>\n In 1996, after the dismissal of Benazir\u2019s second government, Zardari was arrested and charged with several offences, including the murder of his brother-in-law, Murtaza Bhutto. He remained in prison for eight years and was released<\/a> on bail in 2004, which was followed by his acquittal<\/a> four years later.<\/p>\n Following his release, Zardari kept a low profile but returned to Pakistan in December 2007 after Benazir\u2019s assassination<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the PPP\u2019s victory in the 2008 elections, Zardari was elected<\/a> as the president. During his term, the government launched the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package, and managed to forge a consensus for the seventh National Finance Corporation award<\/a>. Moreover, with the approval of the 18th Amendment, Zardari surrendered the president\u2019s power to dissolve Parliament.<\/p>\n Throughout his political career, Zardari has faced allegations of misconduct and corruption although nothing has been proven in courts. When Benazir was prime minister, he was labelled \u2018Mr 10%\u2019 over allegations that he received kickbacks and stole from the state\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n