Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi (Urdu: عارف الرحمان علوی; born 29 August 1949) is a Pakistani politician serving as the 13th and current president of Pakistan, in office since 9 September 2018.[2]
He was a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from June 2013 to May 2018 and again from August to September 2018. A founding member of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Alvi was elected as President of Pakistan on 4 September 2018 following the presidential election.
Early life and education
Alvi was born on 29 August 1949[3] in Karachi, Pakistan,[4] to a Urdu-speaking Faqir Family.
His father, Habib-ur-Rehman Elahi Alvi, was a dentist in British India who migrated to Karachi after the establishment of Pakistan,[4] and opened a dental clinic in the Saddar Town.[5] His father became politically affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.[6] According to the website of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Alvi's father was a dentist of Jawaharlal Nehru.[4][7]
After his father started a campaign against compulsory Bible classes, he was expelled from Karachi Grammar School,[8] he completed his early education in Karachi,[9] and moved to Lahore in 1967 for education in dentistry.[6] He received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from De'Montmorency College of Dentistry. He completed his master's degree in prosthodontics from the University of Michigan in 1975.[10] He received a master's degree in orthodontics in 1984 from the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, California.[11] After returning to Pakistan, he started practicing dentistry and setup Alvi Dental Hospital.[9]
Alvi is married to Samina Alvi. The couple has four married children.[1]
In March 2021, he tested positive for Covid-19 after receiving the first dose of the vaccine.[12]
Professional career
In 1981, Alvi was Chairman of the first Pakistan International Dental Conference. In 1987, he became Chairman of the Third Pakistan International Dental Conference. He became Patron of the Fifth Pakistan International Dental Conference.[13] In 1997, Alvi became a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He prepared the constitution of the Pakistan Dental Association and went on to become as its president. He also served as Chairman of the 28th Asia Pacific Dental Congress.[5][14]
He served as Dean of the Faculty of Orthodontics of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan. In 2006, he was elected as the President of Asia Pacific Dental Federation. The next year, he was elected as a Councillor of the FDI World Dental Federation.[5][14]
Political career
Alvi began his political career as a polling agent, and joined a religious party.[15]
While studying at De'Montmorency College of Dentistry, he became an active member of the student unions.[16] He became politically affiliated with Islami Jamiat Talaba, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI)[17] and went on to become president of the student union.[1][18] During his early days, he was a critic of the Ayub Khan regime and was shot twice while participating in a protest 1969 at The Mall, Lahore; a bullet still remains lodged in his body.[4]
He became politically active after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced the 1977 Pakistani general election.[9]
He ran for a seat on the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of the JI from a constituency in Karachi in 1979[16][19][20] but was unsuccessful.[5][6][14] In 1988, he quit JI and left politics.[6] According to Alvi, he left the party because he had become disillusioned with their narrow focus on politics and had "always felt honest leadership is the real solution to Pakistan’s problems".[15]
After getting inspired by Imran Khan, he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996[4][16] and became one of the founding members of the party.[15][21] He participated in preparing the party constitution of PTI.[5]
He remained a member of the PTI central executive council for a year before becoming president of PTI's Sindh chapter in 1997.[22]
Alvi ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-89 (Karachi South-V) in the 1997 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.[22] He came in third receiving 2,200 votes and losing the seat to Saleem Zia.[6][23][24]
In 2001, he became the vice president of PTI.[22]
He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-90 (Karachi-II) in the 2002 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.[11][22] He came in at sixth place securing 1,276 votes and losing the seat to Umer Sadiq, a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).[24][25]
In 2006, he became secretary general of PTI, a position he served in until 2013.[22][26][27]
He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-250 (Karachi-XII) in the 2013 Pakistani general election.[28][29] He received 77,659 votes and defeated Khushbakht Shujaat.[30] Upon his successful election, he became the only PTI member to win a National Assembly seat from Sindh in the 2013 general elections.[31]
In 2016, he was made president of the PTI Sindh chapter.[21]
He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-247 (Karachi South-II) in the 2018 Pakistani general election.[32][33] He received 91,020 votes and defeated Syed Zaman Ali Jaffery, a candidate of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan.[34]
On 18 August 2018, he was nominated by PTI as its candidate for the office of President of Pakistan.[35] On 4 September 2018, he was elected as 13th President of Pakistan in the 2018 Pakistani presidential election.[36] He received 352 electoral votes and defeated Fazal-ur-Rehman and Aitzaz Ahsan who secured 184 and 124 votes, respectively.[37][38] Upon getting elected as the President, Alvi thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the government coalition for their support.[39] He is the third President of Pakistan whose family migrated to Pakistan from India after the Partition of India.[7] On 5 September 2018, he relinquished his National Assembly seat.[40] On 9 September, he replaced Mamnoon Hussain and was sworn in as 13th President of Pakistan.[41] On 17 September, he addressed the National Assembly for the first time in his capacity as president
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