Asif Ali Zardari takes oath as 14th president of Pakistan

Islamabad: Asif Ali Zardari took oath as 14^th president of Pakistan in the federal capital on Sunday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered oath to President Asif Ali Zardari.

Outgoing President Dr. Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, political leaders and close relatives of Bhutto family, diplomats and top officials of the government were also present there in the ceremony.

The ceremony started after recitation of the Holy Quran. Later, he took oath as the 14 president.  The PPP leaders and workers chanted slogans, “Zinda hey Bibi , Zinda hey,”. 

Earlier, Joint candidate of PML-N and PPP Asif Ali Zardari was elected as the 14th President of Pakistan.

Asif Ali Zardari bagged four hundred and eleven votes from the Senate, the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies.

His rival Sunni Ittehad Council's candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai got one hundred and eighty one votes.

In the election held at the Parliament House in Islamabad, Asif Ali Zardari secured two hundred and fifty five votes while Mahmood Khan Achakzai received one hundred and nineteen votes.

In the Punjab Assembly, Zardari garnered two hundred and forty-six votes while Achakzai trailed with one hundred votes.

The Sindh Assembly results showed Asif Ali Zardari securing one hundred and fifty-one votes and Mahmood Khan Achakzai nine votes.

In Balochistan Assembly, Asif Ali Zardari got forty-seven votes while his rival could not secure even a single one.

In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Asif Ali Zardari secured seventeen votes and Mahmood Khan Achakzai clinched ninety-one votes.

Born on July 26, 1955, in Karachi, Asif Ali Zardari is the son of Pakistani politician Hakim Ali Zardari.

Zardari served as the 11th president of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 and was the first politician to complete a full term in office.

He has been a member of the national assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. His son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is the chairman of PPP.

Under 18th Amendment, Asif Ali Zardari gave away the presidential powers to strengthen parliamentary democracy and bolstered provincial autonomy, coined political reconciliation, helped policies that encompassed freedom of media, revived Pakistan's energy sector, and opened Pakistan to foreign direct investment.