‘I came to see how the rulers live’
Citizens got to see the inside of the presidency in person for the first time on Saturday, after the building was opened to the public.
Formally known as Aiwan-i-Sadr, the building sits at the top of the hill on Constitution Avenue, between Parliament House and Pakistan Secretariat’s cabinet block. The presidency was the centre of national politics until 2008, before which presidents were empowered to dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss elected governments under Article 58-2(b) of the Constitution.
Construction of the building began in 1970 and took 11 years to complete, finally ending during the tenure of Gen Ziaul Haq. Haq inaugurated the building, but never lived in it, choosing instead to stay in the Army House on Jhelum Road in Rawalpindi.
Before the presidency was build, presidents like Gen Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya Khan and Fazal Elahi Chaudhry lived in Prince Palace, on The Mall, which now houses Fatima Jinnah Women University.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the first president to actually reside in the President House, followed by Farooq Leghari, Mohammad Rafique Tarar, Asif Ali Zardari, Mamnoon Hussain and the incumbent Dr Arif Alvi.
Gen Pervez Musharraf also chose to live in Army House during his tenure as president, but by this time the Army House on Jhelum Road had moved to the old Prime Minister House. A new Prime Minister House was built in Islamabad during Benazir Bhutto’s first tenure.