President Zardari to get farewell guard of honour, making history

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari will be given a farewell guard of honour to mark the completion of his Constitutional term in the Presidential House on Sunday, adding a new chapter in the democratic history of Pakistan.

Asif Ali Zardari has earned a rare distinction of being the only democratically elected President in the 66-year long history of Pakistan to have completed a full five-year Constitutional tenure.

The activities of President Asif Ali Zardari as the Head of State will formally come to an end following the ceremony of farewell guard of honour by the smartly turned out contingent of the armed forces in the President’s House on Sunday. President Zardari will be referred to as ‘former president’ from the midnight of Sunday.

According to sources, President Asif Zardari after receiving the guard of honour will leave for Lahore where he is scheduled to preside over a meeting of Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) central leadership. This will mark the beginning of a new political journey for Mr Zardari.

On September 9, he will be attending the oath-taking ceremony, as former president, of the newly elected President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain on September 9. This will also be another fresh addition in the political and democratic history of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.