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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Zardari was sworn in as the 14th President of Pakistan on Sunday, officially taking over as the head of the state for a historic second time, Dawn reported.
Notably, Zardari is the only civilian candidate to have been elected as head of the state for a second time, excluding the military heads. Earlier, he served as the Pakistan President from 2008 to 2013. Zardari had secured 411 electoral votes on Saturday to defeat his opponent and chief of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who could only get 181 votes, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to Zardari today at the President's House in Islamabad. They were flanked by newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing President Arif Alvi. Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and PPP Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were also present. Zardari is also one of the four democratically elected presidents to have completed their five-year constitutional term, as reported by Dawn. The president was chosen by an electoral college consisting of members from the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four provincial assemblies. A joint session of the parliament was conducted at the parliament house in Islamabad, where members from both the National Assembly and the Senate exercised their franchise, according to ARY News. 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 replaced 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. (ANI)
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