After Asif Ali Zardari took the oath of office on Sunday as the nation’s fourteenth president, many were wondering who would become Pakistan’s first lady.
Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Zardari’s youngest daughter, attended him for his oath-taking ceremony yesterday at the President’s House in Islamabad, according to a Monday story from The News.
This became more important after Aseefa was spotted following her father to the oath-taking ceremony in a tweet on Sunday, which was tagged by Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, the eldest daughter.
The poem concluded with Aseefa’s name, saying, “From accompanying President Asif Zardari to all his court hearings to fighting for his release from jail—nnow by his side as First Lady of Pakistan.”
A first lady is the spouse of the president; in this instance, President Zardari is widowed as a result of the 2007 martyrdom of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Since then, the president has not remarried, and throughout his first term as president of the nation, which ran from 2008 to 2013, the first lady’s post was also unfilled.
This time, though, is different since Aseefa, who is presently 31 years old, was a teenager during her father’s first term as head of state.
Prior to the February 8 elections, Aseefa had been actively involved in the party’s electoral campaign and had been spotted presiding over a number of rallies in an effort to garner support for her brother Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was the party’s prime ministerial nominee at the time.
Aseefa made her political debut on November 30, 2020, during a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) event in Multan, according to Arab News.
Furthermore, Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah used to periodically travel with her brother Quaid-e-Azam for a variety of occasions, including formal gatherings. He was a widower as well.
There are several examples from other nations where widower presidents have invited their daughters, sisters, or even nieces to be their first ladies.
Andrew Jackson, a former US president and widower, had requested that his niece Emily Donelson take on the role of first lady. Furthermore, Grover Cleveland and Chester Arthur, two other US presidents, requested that their sisters take on the role of first lady.
