ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who was elected as the country’s 14th president by a wide majority the day before, took oath as head of state today (Sunday).
At the swearing-in ceremony held at Islamabad’s Aiwan-e-Sadr, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa gave the oath to the newly elected president.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, departing President Arif Alvi, all three service chiefs, and General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC).
Furthermore, governors from all four provinces, chief ministers, and foreign ambassadors attended the ceremony.
Zardari, the ruling alliance’s joint nominee, was elected president for the second time on Saturday, defeating PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai by a landslide.
With the support of allied parties, the president obtained 411 electoral votes in parliament and all four provincial assemblies, primarily from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan.
Meanwhile, his opponent, Achakzai, received 181 votes, since he was only able to obtain the majority of votes in the PTI-backed SIC-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
