Pakistanâ„¢s President Asif Ali Zardari waves as he leaves the Presidential Palace after a farewell ceremony in Islamabad, September 8, 2013.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has stepped down after a record five years in power to become the first democratically elected leader in the country’s history to complete his full term in office.
Fifty eight-year-old Zardari left office on Sunday in a farewell ceremony at the presidential palace in the capital, Islamabad.
His successor, Mamnoon Hussain, is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday.
Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, told his supporters later in the eastern city of Lahore that he plans to reorganize his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to Å“further strengthen democracy” in the country.
Å“I want to set up new traditions. We have strengthened democracy, we have empowered women by appointing them as speaker and the foreign minister. We will further strengthen democracy by cooperating with our opponents,” he said.
Å“Our mandate was stolen by the forces which want to destabilize Pakistan. But we accepted that mandate to strengthen democracy. We did not lose the war but have taken it ahead for the cause of democracy,” he said.
The PPP suffered a defeat against the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the May elections.
Zardari also vowed to support the new premier in his efforts to boost democracy in the violence-hit country.
Å“I want to tell Nawaz Sharif, we will not let you weaken. We will fight shoulder to shoulder with you against the forces which want politics of gun instead of the politics of ballot.”
Pakistan is grappling with a growing wave of violence and militancy.
Militants have carried out numerous attacks against security forces as well as civilians and managed to spread their influence in various regions of the country despite frequent offensives by the Pakistani army.
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Pakistan entered an alliance with the United States in the so-called Å“war on terror.”
Thousands more have also been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy in the country.
DB/HJL
Republished from: Press TV