In a tightly contested, three-way election, a long-time ally of PM Imran Khan, Dr. Arif Alvi has been elected as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s 13th President. Dr. Alvi, one of the founding members of the party, Tehreek-e-Insaf won the election by beating opposing candidates from the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muslim League – Nawaz.
Dr. Arif Alvi in a decidedly intense and complex Presidential race won 212 votes in the Pakistan National Assembly and the Senate while Aitzaz Ahsan (PPP) and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman won 81 and 131 respectively.
Dr. Alvi thanked PM Imran Khan, a colleague of the PTI for nominating him for Pakistan’s highest federal office. Dr. Alvi also promised to work with PM Khan to usher in a ‘naya Pakistan.’
The new President, Dr. Arif Alvi will take oath on the 9th of September, a day after outgoing President Mamnoon Hussein’s term ends on the 8th of September.
Interestingly, Dr. Arif Alvi has a curious connection with India too. His father, Dr. Habib ur Rehman Elahi Alvi was a dentist to India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Alvi’s family had immigrated to Pakistan from Delhi as the horrors of the partition unfolded in Delhi in 1947.
The election of a fellow PTI party man has allowed cricketer-turned-politician PM Imran Khan the opportunity to better consolidate his policy and programmes across all provinces of Pakistan. Since his own election, PM Imran Khan, who allegedly has the support of the military establishment, has already nominated the governors for Pakistan’s four provinces. Further, he has also appointed one of his key friends and allies to the position of Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan most vital province, both in political and economic terms.