Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi elected as 13th President of Pakistan

NewsBharati    05-Sep-2018
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Islamabad, September 5: Pakistan gets a new President days after new Prime Minister Imran Khan took the charge. Notably, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi was on Tuesday elected as the 13th President of Pakistan. 

The Election Commission of Pakistan, in a press release, said, “A total of 1,110 voters participated in the presidential polls held simultaneously at the Parliament House and the four provincial assemblies today. Of the total votes cast, 27 votes were declared invalid.”

“After the total valid votes were treated according to the provision of paragraph 18 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution, Alvi secured 353 votes, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Jamiat Ulema-e Islam - F (JUI-F) chief Fazal-ur-Rehman bagged 185, while Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Ahsan's tally stood at 124,” the ECP added.

“In the Balochistan Assembly, Alvi secured 45 of the 60 votes, and the rest going Rehman's way. Not a single vote was registered for Ahsan. Ahsan garnered 100 votes in the Sindh Assembly, while Alvi secured 56. One vote was registered in Rehman's favour. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Alvi bagged 78 votes of the total 109, while 26 and 5 went Rehman's and Ahsan's way respectively,” the ECP concluded.

In his victory speech, Alvi said, "I am grateful to God that the PTI-nominated candidate has been successful in the presidential race today. I am also thankful to Imran Khan for nominating me for such a big responsibility." He also stated he hoped that "fortunes of the poor" are turned around during his five-year term.

"From today I am not just a president that was nominated by the PTI but I am the president of the entire nation and all parties. Each party has an equal right on me," said Alvi. Importantly, President-elect Alvi will succeed outgoing President Mamnoon Hussain and assume office on September 9.

BACKGROUND:

Being a son of Nehru's dentist is not the only connection that Alvi has with India. He is yet another Pakistani president whose family migrated to Pakistan from India after partition. Alvi started his political career about five decades ago when he was a student of de'Montmonrency College of Dentistry, an affiliate of the University of Punjab in Lahore. He was part of the students' wing of Jamaat-i-Islami and protested against military ruler Ayub Khan.

He also participated in elections from the platform of Jamaat-i-Islami in 1979 but lost. Later he became disillusioned with the politics of Jamaat-i-Islami and joined PTI as its founding member in 1996. He also helped in writing the Constitution of the new party. Alvi contested his first election for PTI in 1997 but lost it. His affiliation with the party continued and he steadily rose in its ranks.

He was the Secretary-General of the party from 2006 till 2013. In 2013 he was elected as a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-250 Karachi and was re-elected in July 2018. Apart from his political struggle, Alvi is also through a professional dentist.

He acquired his dental degree BDS (Dentistry) from de'Montmonrency College of Dentistry, Lahore and Master of Science degree in Prosthodontics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1975 and Master of Science in Orthodontics in 1984 from University of the Pacific, San Francisco. In 1997, Alvi was declared a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics.

He was the primary author of the constitution of the Pakistan Dental Association and has been the elected President of the Pakistan Dental Association. He was also Chairman of the first Pakistan International Dental Conference in 1981 and also elected Chairman of the 28th Asia Pacific Dental Congress. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of Orthodontics of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. In 2006, he was elected as the President of Asia Pacific Dental Federation. In 2007, he was elected as a Councillor of the FDI World Dental Federation, the first time a Pakistani had been elected.