Former Husband Of Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari Elected As Pakistan's 14th President

Asif Ali Zardari. (Insatgram @aalizardari)

JAKARTA - Pakistani lawmakers on Saturday elected Asif Ali Zardari, one of the leaders of the centre-left Pakistan People's Party (PPP), as the country's 14th president. Zardari, 68, is a widower from Benazir Bhutto - who twice served as Pakistan's prime minister - and is a candidate for the ruling coalition. Zardari defeated Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a veteran politician from the southwestern province of Blochistan who is also a candidate for the Sunni Ittehad Council opposition. The council is a religious political group and is a new shelter for lawmakers from Pakistan Tereek-e-Insaf (PTI), namely Imran Khan's party - the former jailed prime minister. Several small political parties, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e--Islami, boycotted elections and no lawmakers from those parties voted. Voting started at 10.00 am local time (12.00 WIB) at the National Assembly building in Islamabad and in four provincial capitals, and continued until 16.00 pm (18.00 WIB). Zardari is the only elected politician to the highest but symbolic constitutional office in the country for a second term.

He previously served as president in 2008-2013 during his own party administration.