PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari made history on Sunday by taking the oath as president for a second time. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa administered the oath of office at a grand ceremony at the Presidency, attended by newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and outgoing president Dr. Arif Alvi. Also present were Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, along with PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari seated next to them. This marks a significant milestone for Asif Ali Zardari, who has now been elected as president for a second term.
Several political leaders, including former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, and former federal ministers, were in attendance. However, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of PTI did not join the ceremony. Also present were Sindh and Balochistan Chief Ministers, Sindh and Punjab Governors, and members of Mr. Zardari’s family, including his daughters Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari and Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, along with her husband and his sister Faryal Talpur.
After the oath-taking ceremony, guests shook hands with President Asif Ali Zardari as per tradition. The COAS spent some time with President Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and Mr. Bhutto-Zardari. The Chief Justice of Pakistan also had a brief chat with Mr. Bhutto-Zardari in a corridor of the Presidency as they were leaving the building.
The day before, Mr. Zardari secured 411 electoral votes to defeat his opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, chief of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), who garnered 181 votes, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan. This victory solidified Asif Ali Zardari’s place in history as the only individual to have been elected as the head of state for a second time and one of the four democratically elected presidents to complete their five-year constitutional term.
Besides a large number of guests, many diplomats were also present at the oath-taking ceremony, adding to the significance of the event.
