biography
pronunciation:
[bootoh]
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1953– )
|
| biography:
| Pakistani stateswoman and prime minister (1988–91, 1993–6), born in Karachi, SE Pakistan the daughter of the former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She studied at Oxford, returned to Pakistan, and was placed under house arrest (1977–84) after the military coup led by General Zia ul-Haq. She moved to England (1984–6), becoming the joint leader in exile of the Opposition Pakistan People's Party, then returned to Pakistan to launch a nationwide campaign for ‘open elections’. She married a wealthy landowner, Asif Ali Zardari, in 1987 and was elected prime minister barely three months after giving birth to her first child. She was defeated in the 1991 election, and found herself in court defending herself against several charges of misconduct while in office. She continued to be a prominent focus of Opposition discontent, and won a further election in 1993, but was replaced in 1996. In 1999 she was convicted in absentia of corruption and sentenced (2002) to three years in prison. She continues to direct her party from abroad, being re-affirmed as PPP leader in 2002. |
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