Islamabad: Dr Arif Alvi is being administered oath of Pakistan's president by CJP Mian Saqib Nisar here on Sunday. (ENNS)
ISLAMABAD (By Lala Hassan) Dr Arif Alvi was sworn in at a ceremony in Islamabad here on Sunday, concluding Pakistan’s peaceful transfer of power to the new government after the general elections held on July 25.
Arif Alvi, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of the founders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, becomes Pakistan’s 13th president, replacing Mamnoon Hussain.
Chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar administered oath to Dr Alvi.
Khan and his cabinet attended the ceremony, along with armed forces chiefs and senior Islamabad-based diplomats.
He served as the PTI’s secretary general for eight years from 2006, and was elected an MP in the southern megacity of Karachi in 2013, winning re-election in the July vote.
He remained president PTI Sindh as well.
According to his close aides, Alvi was shot and wounded during a protest against military dictator Ayub Khan in Lahore in 1969. He still has a bullet embedded in his right arm.
The election of the PTI marks the end of decades of rotating leadership between the ousted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), punctuated by periods of army rule.
Dr Alvi and his son Dr Awab Alvi actively participated in the movement for restoration of the constitution and judiciary during 2007.
