Why was convict Zardari elected president?

Why was he elected?

In the write-up ‘The Swiss letter has to be, has to be, has to be written’ (Feb 11) Ahmad Noorani writes, “The fact Aitzaz knows is that the Swiss investigation magistrate had convicted President Zardari on October 29, 2007, and President Zardari’s appeal against his conviction was also rejected by the Swiss Court of Appeals on the basis of strong evidence on March 19, 2008”.
If Zardari had been convicted, why was he allowed to run for president in the first place? Why didn’t anyone raise this issue at that time? I’m sure on this basis alone he can be removed from his present post.

Shakir Lakhani
Karachi
Published in The News, February 14, 2012