Pak lawmakers elect Arif Alvi president

ISLAMABAD, Sept 04 (AFP): Pakistan elected Tuesday a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan as its new president, further cementing the ruling party's power after a controversial general election victory.
Former dentist Arif Alvi, one of the founders of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, will replace Mamnoon Hussain after the vote by more than a thousand lawmakers from both houses of parliament and the four provincial assemblies.
Former cricket champion Khan became prime minister last month following his party's controversial victory in the mid-July parliamentary elections.
Khan's critics accuse him of having benefited from an underhand intervention by the military in his favour, and from fraud on the day of the vote.