Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of the country for the next five years. The 68-year-old co-chairman of the co-ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) received 411 votes, according to the preliminary results.
He is the first civilian to hold this office for the second time in the South Asian nuclear power with a population of more than 240 million. New Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has only been in office for a few days.