ISLAMABAD — Asif Ali Zardari took oath as the 14th president of Pakistan during a ceremony held at the President's House on Sunday, according to a statement from the President's Office.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath of office to the newly-elected president at the ceremony attended by the outgoing President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, parliamentarians, political leaders, and foreign dignitaries.
Chief of Army Staff Gen. Asim Munir and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza were also in attendance, while PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was seated next to them.
The co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) and coalition government's candidate for head of state, Zardari managed to secure a majority vote to become president of Pakistan for a historic second time.
He won the election by taking 411 against 181 votes from all the electoral colleges, including the parliament and four provincial assemblies, the Election Commission of Pakistan said. He beat the opposition supported candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai.
This is 68-year-old Zardari's second term as president after he served as the country's 11th president from 2008 to 2013. He was the first politician to complete a full term in office. He is also the first civilian who reached this position for the second time in the country's history.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former federal ministers Sherry Rehman, Syed Naveed Qamar, Khursheed Ali Shah and Ishaq Dar, Sindh and Balochistan Chief Ministers Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sarfraz Bugti, Sindh and Punjab Governors Kamran Tessori and Baligur Rehman also attended the ceremony.
Nominated as the joint candidate of the PML-N-led coalition government under a quid pro quo deal that saw PML-N president Shehbaz being elected as prime minister, Zardari replaces Dr. Arif Alvi, who overstayed for five months in the absence of electoral college required to elect a new president after completing his five-year term in September 2023. — Agencies
