His arranged marriage in 1987 to Benazir Bhutto, the daughter of former Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, surprised many and brought him into the central current of his nation's turbulent political life. A year later Bhutto led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to victory in elections after the military dictator Zia ul-Haq died in a mysterious plane crash. She promised "food, shelter and clothes" for the masses. Two years later, her administration was dismissed amid allegations of corruption and incompetence. Zardari was imprisoned on charges of blackmail. The Guardian