WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Asif Ali Zardari, the co-chair of the Pakistan People’s Party and the former president of the country, will attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
According to national reports, Zardari was invited to attend the ceremony by the President-elect, and accepted the invitation.
He will deploy to Washington next week, according to the report, and will travel with a delegation that includes former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. Sherry Rehman, former interior minister Rehman Malik and other party leaders and ministers.
Pakistan’s 11th president, Zardari served at the post from 2008 through 2013, becoming the first democratically elected president to serve a full term in the country’s history. Zardari’s election was soon followed by the launching of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), a program that has been criticized for being launched in a hurry and without complete architecture.
In Dec. 2011, Zardari signed two bills seeking stricter punishments for a number of crimes against women into laws. The first bill sought strict punishments for giving women away in marriage under various customs and depriving them of rightful inheritance.
Zardari has also been the subject of multiple corruption scandals over the course of his political career. He has spent several years in prison on different charges.
