Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s daughter Aseefa Bhutto elected as member of parliament

Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, youngest daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and current President Asif Ali Zardari, was elected unopposed as a member of the parliament on the seat vacated by her father.

Aseefa had filed a nomination for the National Assembly seat NA-207 from Shaheed Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah) area of Sindh province for the by-election scheduled for next month.

Aseefa was elected unopposed after three candidates who had filed papers against her withdrew their names from the contest, read a notification issued by the Returning Office of the area.

As there was no challenger to the seat, she was declared a winner in her maiden electoral contest.
The seat was vacated by her father, Asif Ali Zardari after he was elected as the president.

Aseefa said she was “grateful and honoured” to be elected unopposed by the constituency.
“I pledge to serve all my constituents to the best of my abilities, with dedication and irrespective of political affiliation,” she said in a post on X.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and sociology and a master’s in global health and development. Aseefa initially served as a goodwill ambassador for polio eradication in 2012 which made her face familiar among masses.

Her father, President Zardari, had announced plans to make Aseefa the country's first lady.

With Aseefa holding a Parliament seat, the Zardaris have outnumbered the Sharifs to hold the record for having the greatest number of lawmakers from a family in Pakistani politics.

The Zardari family now has six lawmakers at the national and provincial levels with  Zardari himself as the country's president, his daughter Aseefa, son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and brother-in-law Munawar Ali Talpur as Members of the National Assembly, while both sisters Faryal Talpur and Azra Pechuho as members of the provincial assembly in Sindh.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's elder brother Nawaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz Sharif have been elected MNAs, while his niece Maryam Nawaz Sharif is the chief minister of Punjab. Both political families are known for having mostly ruled Pakistan for quite some time.

(with PTI inputs)