ISLAMABAD, (PNA/Xinhua) — Mamnoon Hussain was sworn in Monday as the 12th president of Pakistan for the next five years at the President’s house in the federal capital of Islamabad, local media reported.
Pakistan’s Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry the administered oath to the new president at a ceremony held in the presidency in Islamabad.
The event was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, members of the federal cabinet, chief ministers of four provinces, former presidents including Asif Ali Zardari, former prime ministers, judges, the Services Chiefs, diplomats and senior officials.
Hussian assumed the office of the head of state after former president Zardari stepped down on Sunday after completing his five year term as the elected president of the country.
Hussain, a candidate of the ruling party PML-N, won the Presidential polls held on July 30 by an electoral college comprising members of the Parliament, the Senate and the four provincial assemblies.
The 73-year-old Hussain, who is the close ally of Nawaz Sharif, defeated Justice (Ret) Wajiuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf, as the former ruling party PPP boycotted the Presidential elections.
Hussain, a business graduate, born in 1940 in India, migrated to Pakistan in 1947 along with his family at the time of partition.
He also served as governor of southern province of Sindh from June to October 1999, untill he was ousted along with the PML-N government of Nawaz Sharif by then army chief General Pervez Musharraf.