Asif Ali Zardari, formerly a businessman who transitioned into politics, is identified as the spouse of the late Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Scheduled for Saturday, Pakistan's ex-president Asif Ali Zardari is anticipated to secure his position as the nation's 14th president in the upcoming election.
The forthcoming president will assume the role previously held by Dr. Arif Alvi, whose five-year term concluded last year; however, he has continued in the interim due to the absence of the new electoral college.
Zardari, a businessman-turned-politician, is the husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Aged 68, Zardari currently serves as the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and enjoys the backing of the coalition government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
This development aligns with a reciprocal agreement following the fractured mandate from the February 8 polls: PPP supported PML-N's candidate for the prime ministerial role and secured governance in the Punjab provincial assembly. In return, Zardari obtained PML-N's support, enabling his party to govern the Sindh province.
Having previously served as president from 2008 to 2013, Zardari is poised to become the first civilian to secure re-election to the presidency.
His contender, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, heads the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and is contesting under the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) banner, which gained traction after independent candidates supported by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined forces with it.
Confidence runs high within the ruling coalition that Zardari will clinch the presidency for a second term, given their majority in various assemblies, including the Senate, National Assembly, Punjab Assembly, Sindh Assembly, and Balochistan Assembly. Conversely, the opposition holds a majority solely in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly.
Amid preparations for the March 9 presidential election, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari assured Punjab lawmakers of his father's attentive stewardship, akin to the care he receives.
As per the Constitution, the president is indirectly elected by an electoral college comprising federal and provincial lawmakers. Polling stations have been designated at the parliament buildings and provincial assemblies for lawmakers to cast their votes.
The ruling coalition anticipates Zardari securing over 400 electoral votes, with eligible voters comprising members from various national and provincial assemblies.
Iskandar Mirza, who assumed office on March 23, 1956, became Pakistan's inaugural president after the adoption of the first Constitution. Preceding this, the country was under the governance of governor generals, as stipulated in the amended India Act of 1935.
Meanwhile, Dr. Arif Alvi, Zardari's predecessor, received a farewell guard of honor on Friday as he concluded his tenure to make way for the new president.
Having served since September 2018, Alvi's term expired last year. However, he remained in office as per legal provisions, given the delayed election process due to the dissolution of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies in August 2023, well ahead of the February 8 general elections.
With less than a day remaining until the presidential elections, Achakzai, backed by Khan and PTI, has called for the postponement of elections, citing incomplete representation in the electoral college due to vacant reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies.
