Arif Alvi, the newly elected President of Pakistan was born to Elahi Alvi in 1949 on 29 July. Born to a well educated family Alvi considered as one of the founding member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Education
He received a degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery from De’Montmorency College of Dentistry. He completed his Masters in prosthodontics from the University of Michigan in 1975 and Masters in orthodontics in 1984.
Profession
Alvi is a dentist by profession and served the Asia-Pacific Dental Federation and the Pakistan Dental Association as president.
Political career
Alvi started his political career as a polling agent, he joined a religious party.
While studying at De’Montmorency College of Dentistry, he was an active member of the student unions. He was affiliated with the Islami Jamiat Talaba, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) and served as president of the student union.
Founding member of PTI
In 1996, he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and become one of the founding members of party. He remained a member of the PTI central executive council for a year before becoming president of PTI Sindh in 1997. He served as the secretary general of PTI from 2006 to 2013.
Election 1997
Alvi ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-89 (Karachi South-V) in Pakistani general election, 1997, but remained unsuccessful. He received 2,200 votes and lost the seat to Saleem Zia.
Election 2002
He once again contested election in 2002 from PS-90 (Karachi-II) but could manage to get only 1,276 votes. He lost to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) candidate.
Also read: Zardari will be responsible if Alvi gets selected, says Saad Rafique
Election 2013
He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PTI from NA-250 (Karachi-XII) in the 2013 general elections. He received 77,659 votes and defeated Khushbakht Shujaat of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Upon his successful election, he became the only PTI member to win a National Assembly seat from Sindh in the 2013 general elections.
In 2016, he was made president of PTI Sindh chapter.
Election 2018
He was re-elected to the National Assembly from NA-247 (Karachi South-II) in the 2013 general elections.
On August 18, 2018, he was nominated by PTI as its candidate for the office of President of Pakistan. On September 4, he was elected as 13th President of Pakistan. He received 212 votes and defeated Fazal-ur-Rehman and Aitzaz Ahsan who secured 131 and 81 votes, respectively.