Asif Ali Zardari: 'Mr Ten Percent' on brink of Pakistan presidency

ISLAMABAD, Sept 6, 2008 (AFP)

Asif Ali Zardari was once so tainted by corruption allegations that he acquired the nickname "Mr Ten percent" among ordinary Pakistanis and beyond.

But the judicial charges and political battles that saw Benazir Bhutto's widower spend 11 years in jail will have no bearing on Saturday's presidential election here, and an amnesty last year cleared him of remaining charges. A secret ballot of the country's two houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies is likely to see Zardari succeed Pervez Musharraf, who was forced to resign last month under threat of impeachment.

Zardari's life journey has taken him from playboy to villain to political heir of the revered Bhutto, whose image still casts a shadow over daily life here nine months after her assassination.

Among the 168 million people of nuclear-armed Pakistan, however, there are doubts over Zardari's suitability for a role that would allow him to dismiss governments and appoint leaders of the country's powerful military.

"Mr. Zardari has a controversial reputation. He has been charged, among other things, with corruption, extortion and murder," Shafqat Mahmood, a former MP and now political analyst, told AFP.