ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday took oath as the 14th president of Pakistan. Zardari was elected as the president of the country by a big margin on Saturday.
The oath-taking ceremony took place at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to the newly-elected president. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, all three service chiefs, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza. The outgoing president Dr Arif Alvi was also present on the occasion.
Moreover, governors of all four provinces, chief ministers and foreign diplomats also participated in the ceremony.
Asif Ali Zardari Wins Presidential Election
Zardari, who was the joint candidate of the ruling alliance, was elected as the country’s president for the second time on Saturday after he defeated Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate, by a thumping majority.
Zardari secured 411 electoral votes in parliament and all four provincial assemblies. His rival, Mahmood Khan Achakzai bagged 181 votes as he was only able to secure the majority of votes in the PTI-backed SIC-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly.
This is the second time Asif Ali Zardari has won the presidency. He earlier served as the 11th president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 and has been a member of the National Assembly of the country since August 2018.
Born in 1955, Asif Ali Zardari was brought up and educated in Karachi city of Sindh. He was married to Pakistan’s former female prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Zardari will replace outgoing president Dr Arif Alvi, who stayed in office for five more months despite completing his five-year term in September 2023.
