Dr Arif Alvi was sworn in as 13th president of Pakistan on Sunday, further consolidating the power of the newly-elected government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the centre. Dr Alvi, a dentist by profession, is one of the founding members of the PTI, was administered the oath by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar at a simple yet impressive ceremony at Presidency a day after his predecessor Mamnoon Hussain completed his five years tenure.
The election of Alvi on September 04 came as a big sigh of relief for Imran Khan's government, as a virtually ceremonial office, has a crucial role in promulgating the presidential ordinances.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, outgoing President Mamnoon Hussain, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, federal ministers, governors, provincial chief ministers, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff committee General Zubair Hayat, the three services chiefs - Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chief of Naval Staff Zafar Mahmood Abbasi - the visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Saudi Information Minister Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad, ambassadors, diplomats and senior officials.
However, no member from the opposition political parties was seen in the attendance. After the Dr Arif Alvi took the oath as President, the national anthem was played for second time followed official directions that Alvi's swearing in as president be notified in the Gazette. Later in the day, the Cabinet Secretariat issued the Gazette notification saying that Dr Arif Alvi had "assumed the office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan" on September 9, 2018.
President Dr Arif Alvi also received welcoming Guard of Honor in an impressive ceremony held at the President House in the afternoon. A smartly turned out contingent comprising all three forces presented him the Guard of Honor. The President inspected the Guard of Honor.
Later, the President was introduced to the staff of President House. The President shook hands with the officials of the Presidency. Dr Alvi is thirteenth President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. By profession, he is a dentist. According to the PTI's official website, Dr Alvi is one of its founding members and was the party's secretary general from 2006 till 2013. He was elected as member of the National Assembly from constituency NA-250 (now NA-247) in the 2013 general elections for the first time and was the only National Assembly won by PTI from Sindh province.
He was re-elected to the National Assembly from the same constituency called NA-247 (Karachi South-II) in the July 25 general election. However, he vacated the seat following his party's decision to field him in the race for presidential election. Alvi won the presidential election on September 4 with 352 votes defeating Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a joint candidate of the opposition parties including PML-N who secured 185 votes and PPP's nominee Aitzaz Ahsan who bagged 124 votes.