The decision by Benazir Bhutto's party to make her widower one of its co-chairmen places family loyalty above widespread concern in the ranks about his notoriety.
Asif Ali Zardari, a suave businessman and former polo player, is widely known in Pakistan as "Mr 10 per cent" after a string of charges against him for taking kickbacks from government contracts while his wife was prime minister.
He served eight years in jail on charges ranging from corruption to murder, an experience which left him with chronic health problems. He emerged in 2004 after a judge controversially quashed his convictions. Part of that time was served for charges that he ordered the 1996 shooting of Benazir's younger brother, Murtaza, who had challenged her for the leadership of the Pakistan People's party.
Zardari and Bhutto denied all the charges, describing them as politically motivated. Speaking to a journalist from Karachi central prison in 1997, Zardari called the allegations "a meaningless game" but did not directly challenge documentary evidence for the case against him, a large dossier that was reportedly sold to investigators by an unknown source for $1m (£500,000).
The couple also denied ownership of some of the more extravagant properties they were said to possess, including a mansion in Surrey, bought for £2.5m in 1995. It was formally owned by a network of companies and trusts around Europe, but when proceeds from the sale of the mansion were claimed by the government, Zardari's lawyers stepped in naming him as the beneficial owner. The struggle over the money is still under way in the British courts. The Swiss authorities are also investigating allegations that Zardari used the country's banks to launder millions of dollars from kickback deals.
Benazir Bhutto stunned her western friends when she agreed to an arranged marriage with Zardari in 1987. It was a negotiated union between the two families, both wealthy landowning dynasties.
He was best known in Pakistan at the time for the polo team he ran, the Zardari Four, but he represented serious money. His family owned a construction business and a Karachi cinema where he said he first spotted the young Benazir. She saw him for the first time only six days before their engagement was announced. At the time, she told a reporter that she found him "tolerant," with a "good sense of humour." Besides, she added, "you get tired of saying no, no, no all the time."
During Bhutto's two terms as prime minister, Zardari operated as a freewheeling broker for government contracts, operating without any portfolio until she named him investment minister in her last days in office.
He caused a scandal by ordering the bulldozing of acres of protected woodland near the official residence in Islamabad, for a polo field and stables for his ponies. A senior government official, Muhammad Mehdi was fired after he complained about using public money on the project.
The reputation the couple acquired during their time in power did much to confirm the Pakistani public's cynicism about politics. Zardari, 51, has homes in Manhattan and Dubai but has long been a power behind the scenes in the PPP. He made it clear yesterday he would overshadow his teenage son, who he shielded from questions on account of his "tender age". Although the party maintained yesterday that Bhutto had named him as her chosen successor, its decision to elevate him to a formal role as one of the party's top officials, suggests it feels the tarnish on his reputation is outweighed electorally by his association with the Bhutto name.
Ijaz Gilani, the head of the Gallup polling organisation in Pakistan, thinks the Zardari appointment could prove costly to the PPP. "Most believe in the corruption stories about him," Gilani said. "My hunch is that under the present circumstances the party's hardcore supporters will stand by the decision. However, it will turn off the people on the margins, and it is these free-floating, less committed voters that count. It will hurt the party in the electoral outcome." He said he thought the appointment of Zardari, was more emotional than rational.
"I suspect the atmosphere is very introverted at this time," he said. "What it does is it reveals the darker side of the People's party, which has always been this dynastic aspect. It will further turn off the intellectuals ... which have been a key element in its growth."
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