Aseefa Bhutto elected unopposed in NA-207 vacated by President Zardari
Nominations of seven candidates were rejected while three contenders withdrew from contesting by-poll, ECP says
- ECP notifies Aseefa’s victory on National Assembly seat vacated by Zardari.
- PPP leader declared First Lady after Zardari becomes president on March 9.
- Aseefa made political debut at PPP rally in Multan on November 30, 2020.
NAWABSHAH: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate and President Asif Ali Zardari’s youngest daughter Aseefa Bhutto has been elected unopposed on the NA-207 Shaheed Benazirabad (former Nawabshah) 1 constituency.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has notified the election of Aseefa as National Assembly lawmaker without any contest.
It is noteworthy to mention here that 11 candidates, including Aseefa, had filed their nomination papers to contest the by-poll on the aforementioned seat vacated by Zardari who became president of Pakistan after being jointly nominated by the ruling coalition.
Three candidates withdrew their nomination papers, whereas, seven nominations were rejected, as per the top electoral authority.
Earlier, Aseefa has been declared the country’s First Lady after Zardari sworn in as country's 14th head of state a day after he swept the presidential election after obtaining 411 electoral votes on March 9.
The decision was taken by the PPP co-chairman after consulting the party leaders on recognising the scion of Bhutto family as the first lady.
A first lady is the president's wife, however, in this case, President Zardari is a widower after his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was martyred in 2007.
Since then, the president did not remarry and the position of the first lady also remained vacant during his first tenure as the country's president — from 2008 to 2013.
However, back then time it was different, as Aseefa was a teenager during her father's first tenure as the head of state, and currently, she is 31 years old.
Aseefa had actively been involved in the party's electoral campaign in the run-up to the February 8 polls and was seen leading various rallies in a bid to seek support for her brother Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari — the party's then-candidate for the prime minister's post.
Aseefa made her political debut at a PPP rally in Multan on November 30, 2020.