ISLAMABAD, Mar 10 (NNI): Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, took oath as the 14th President of Pakistan Sunday (March 10).
The oath-taking ceremony was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad today at 4 pm where Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa administered oath to the newly-elected President.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, former Prime Minister and PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif, parliamentarians, political leaders, all the three Services Chiefs, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and other high officials attended the ceremony.
Moreover, Chief Ministers, Governors, Foreign Diplomats, Speaker and Deputy Speaker NA, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other dignitaries attended the ceremony.
It is pertinent to mention here that President Asif Ali Zardari became the 14th President of Pakistan to serve the country for a second term.
Earlier, he had served the country as president during 2008-2013.
He was elected for the constitutional slot by majority vote of the electoral college, comprising members of the Parliament and four provincial assemblies, on Saturday.
Earlier, Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of PPP and PML-N, was elected as the 14th president of Pakistan.
Zardari received majority votes of the electoral college, comprising the parliament and provincial assemblies, paving the way for him to assume the office of President of Pakistan, for the second time in the country’s parliamentary history.
The PPP co-chairman received 411 votes while the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) backed candidate Mehmood Khan Achakzai — the home of PTI independents — only managed to get 181 votes.
In a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate, the coalition government’s nominee received 255 votes while the SIC-backed candidate managed just 119 votes.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Asif Zardari on his election as president of Pakistan.
In his message, President Xi said China and Pakistan are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers.
He said the two countries have achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and maintained a high level of development of bilateral relations.
The Chinese President said Beijing is ready to work with President Zardari to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries. NNI
