Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf consolidated its hold on power with the election of Dr. Arifur Rehman Alvi as the 13th president of the country,
Alvi, elected by the Parliament and the provincial assemblies in a ballot on Monday, is a founding member of the PTI party, and a close aide of Prime Minster Imran Khan since 1996.
Khan swept to power after victory in July 25 general election at a time when Pakistan is faced with mounting economic challenges, and a lack of basic education and health services for a large part of the 200 million population, especially in the rural areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan also faces extremism and terrorism as huge obstacles to socioeconomic development.
The election of Dr. Alvi, a dentist by profession, gives Khan a constitutional cover to frame policies and implement them. Khan also enjoys confidence of Pakistan Army which is an influential player on Pakistani national scene. Khan will also need a stamp of approval from the Parliament for his decisions and policies, and need cooperation of political parties. Judicial activism is another factor in Pakistan’s democracy, which faces a functional test.
Khan has vowed to serve the common people by providing them opportunity to grow and prosper.
Arif Alvi, the newly elected President of Pakistan Photo: Imran Ghazali/ Wikimedia Commons
Alvi is replacing Mamnoon Hussain – who belongs to the PML(N) of former jailed prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Hussain’s five-year term expires on September 9.
Externally, Pakistan has a spate of foreign policy challenges like improving its image, garnering support for its stances on South Asian issues and maintaining cooperative relations with the United States.
This week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Islamabad for first direct talks with Imran Khan on combating terrorism and stabilizing Afghanistan.
The U.S.-Pakistan relations have been strained for many years and President Donald Trump has suspended military aid for the country.
The new president, though not empowered and a ceremonial head of the state, has been an active political voice in Pakistan and many continue to be an important figure in the national affairs in comparison with Hussain who rarely commented on difficult issues.
Alvi was born on July 29, 1949 and received a degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery from De’Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore. He finished his Masters in prosthodontics from the University of Michigan in 1975 and a Masters in Orthodontics in 1984
Dr. Alvi has also served as the president of the Asia-Pacific Dental Federation and of the Pakistan Dental Association
As a student at De’Montmorency College of Dentistry, he was an active member of the student unions with a right wing Islami Jamiat Talaba affiliation. Alvi lost a bid for election to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh from Karachi in 1979. However, he made a prominent entry to the corridors of power with a win for a National Assembly seat in 2013 and 2018 elections.
PTI activists claims that during one of the demonstrations at The Mall in Lahore, he was shot and wounded and “still ‘proudly’ carries a bullet embedded in his right arm as a symbol of his struggle for democracy in Pakistan”.
