ISLAMABAD, July 30 � India-born Pakistani businessman Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was today elected as the 12th President of Pakistan after he trounced his lone opponent in a one-sided contest, reports PTI.
Hussain, 73, will be sworn in on September 9 at the presidential palace due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari, who is stepping down at the end of his five-year term.
Hussain emerged as a clear winner in the contest with ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, state media reported.
Pakistan People�s Party had withdrawn its candidate Raza Rabbani and boycotted the election protesting change of poll dates from August 6 to July 30 on Supreme Court's directions.
Former Sindh Governor and an alumnus of the Institute of Business Administration, from where he graduated in 1965, Hussain is an old loyalist of Nawaz Sharif and remained with the PML-N during the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. He served as the Governor of Sindh from June to October 1999 and lost the post after the then Army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf toppled the PML-N government in a military coup in Oct 1999.
