Islamabad (Web Desk): The coalition government's nominee Asif Ali Zardari took oath as 14th President of Pakistan on Sunday.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath to Asif Ali Zardai at a ceremony held at the President House in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, former premier and Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, parliamentarians, political leaders, services chiefs and other high officials attended the ceremony.
Asif Ali Zardari, as a joint candidate of the ruling coalition, defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Mahmood Khan Achakzai on Saturday.
Zardari received 255 votes from the National Assembly and Senate, while Mehmood Khan Achakzai received 119 votes.
In KP, Achakzai bagged 91 votes while Asif Ali Zardari managed 17 votes.
In Sindh Assembly, Asif Ali Zardari received 151 votes and Mehmood Khan Achakzai only managed nine votes.
From Punjab, Asif Ali Zardari received 246 votes while his opponent PkMAP Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai managed to only get 100 votes. Out of the 352 cast votes, six were rejected.
Zardari clean swept the Balochistan Assembly by receiving forty-seven votes. While, PTI-backed Mahmood Khan Achakzai received no vote.
Asif Ali Zardari is the first elected president of Pakistan, who succeeded in reaching the president office for a second time.
Earlier, he served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 and was the first politician to complete a full term in office.
Under 18th Amendment, he gave away the presidential powers to strengthen parliamentary democracy and bolstered provincial autonomy, and coined political reconciliation.
President Asif Ali Zardari, during his first term, also helped policies that encompassed freedom of media, revolutionized telecommunications, revived Pakistan's energy sector, opened Pakistan to foreign direct investment and strengthen state-owned enterprises.
The Pakistan Peoples party (PPP) government under his leadership got a consensus among all the political parties on the seventh National Finance Commission award which increased provinces' financial autonomy.
The PPP-led government also unveiled the Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package aimed at fast track progress and development in the province.
To eradicate crippling polio disease from the country, President Asif Ali Zardari also launched Pakistan's National Emergency Action Plan 2011.
