Asif Ali Zardari, the newly elected President of Pakistan, has decided to make his daughter Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari the new First Lady of the country, according to sources. This unprecedented move breaks the tradition of assigning the title to the President’s wife. Aseefa, 31, is the youngest daughter of Zardari and the late Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s first female Prime Minister.
Aseefa is known for her active involvement in the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) electoral campaigns and her role as Pakistan’s Ambassador for polio eradication. She made her political debut in 2020 at a PPP rally and has degrees from Oxford Brookes University, University College London, and the University of Edinburgh.
The position of the First Lady has been left vacant during Zardari’s previous stint as President from 2008 to 2013, as well as during General Yahya Khan’s tenure. If Aseefa becomes the First Lady, it would be the first case of its kind in Pakistan’s ruling history.
The reaction to Aseefa’s potential appointment as First Lady has been largely positive on social media.