Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, left, meets with newly elected Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, March 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Asif Ali Zardari took oath as Pakistan’s 14th President on March 10, a day after the veteran politician was overwhelmingly elected as the next head of country.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to Mr. Zardari, 68, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the Presidential Palace. He will replace Dr Arif Alvi, who stayed in office for five more months despite completing his five-year term in September 2023.

Also read: Asif Ali Zardari | Return of the survivor

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, all three service chiefs, senior officials and diplomats.

Mr. Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman, the joint candidate of the ruling alliance, was elected as the country’s president for the second time on March 9, after he defeated PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai by a huge margin.

He secured 411 electoral votes in Parliament and all four provincial assemblies with the backing of allied parties — mainly Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

Mr. Achakzai bagged 181 votes as he secured the majority of votes in the PTI-backed SIC-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Asif Ali Zardari, a veteran politician

This is the second time Mr. Zardari has won the presidency. He earlier served as the 11th president of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 and has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018.

Born in 1955, Zardari was brought up and educated in Karachi. He was married to Pakistan’s former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December 2007.

File photo of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari. He was elected as the Pakistan’s 14th President becoming the head of state for second time.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari was elected as Pakistan’s 14th President on March 9, becoming the head of state for a second time.

Mr. Zardari, 68, was the joint candidate of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) while his rival Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, was the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The new President was elected by the electoral college of the newly elected members of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, as per the provisions of the Constitution.

Editorial |Old beginning: On Pakistan politics

A businessman-turned-politician, Mr. Zardari is the husband of slain Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

He received 255 votes while his opponent got 119, Pakistani media reported.

Mr. Zardari would replace the incumbent Dr Arif Alvi, whose five-year term ended last year. However, he has continued since the new electoral college was not yet formed.

Mr. Zardari, who served as the president from 2008 to 2013, will also be the first civilian to be elected for the second time as president.

Achakzai is the head of his Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and was contesting from the platform of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which came to prominence after independent candidates backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined it.