Pakistan government makes history but record chequered

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's government has become the first in history to complete a full term in office, but a raft of key achievements has been overshadowed by mismanagement, economic decline and worsening security.

When the Pakistan People's Party won elections in 2008 on a wave of national grief over the assassination of its leader Benazir Bhutto, few imagined her widower would prove such an adept, agile a+nd long-standing president.

Asif Ali Zardari, the man belittled for years as the ill-educated playboy who spent 11 years in prison over corruption allegations despite never being charged, has managed to achieve what alluded all previous civilian rulers in Pakistan.

For the first time a civilian government has completed a full five-year term in office and will be handing over to another elected government in a country which has seen three bloodless military coups and four military rulers.