There is yet no official announcement but Pakistan could soon set a new precedent. As Asif Ali Zardari, 68, takes oath as the president of the country for the second time, there are talks that he could make his daughter Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari the new first lady. The title is usually given to the President’s wife.
According to dawn.com, the position of the first lady was left vacant during Zardari’s previous stint as President from 2008 to 2013. It was likewise in the case of General Yahya Khan as well.
Born in February 1993, Aseefa is Asif Ali Zardar’s youngest daughter from his marriage with former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in 2007. She is said to have made her political debut at a Pakistan Peoples’ Party rally in Multan in 2020. She was actively involved in the PPP’s electoral campaign in the run-up to the February 8 elections.
Aseefa accompanied Zardari during the latter’s oath-taking ceremony in Islamabad, which is when talks about her nomination as the first lady began.
Later, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, the eldest daughter of Asif Ali Zardari, tagged Aseefa in an X post that read: “From accompanying president Asif Ali Zardari to all his court hearings to fighting for his release from jail — now by his side as First Lady of Pakistan”.