Zardari secured 62 of the 65 electoral votes in his home province of Sindh [EPA]

Zardari took 481 votes out of 702, needing only 352 votes to guaranteed him victory, according to provisional election results.

The PPP said Zardari's win was "a victory for democracy".

Sherry Rehman, the country's information minister, said: "It is an historic win. This man suffered jail for more than 11 years for the sake of democracy and today he is elected as the president of the country.

"It is a sign of the strengthening of democracy."

Votes from the four provincial assemblies are yet to be fully counted.

Zardari will succeed Pervez Musharraf, who resigned on August 18 under threat of impeachment.

Election contenders

Zardari beat his two main rivals, out of 32 candidates running, by a wide margin.

Saeed Zaman Siddiqui, a former supreme court chief justice, backed by Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party (PML-N), received 111 votes.

Mushahid Hussain, a senator for the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), the party which staunchly supported Musharraf, lagged behind with 24 votes, according to the commission.

In Sindh, Zardari's home province, the country's new president secured 62 of the 65 electoral votes, while Siddiqui and Hussain failed to get a single one, according to reports there.

Zardari will have to face a number of problems plaguing the country, including its economic malaise and increasing unrest in the north.

Talat Masood, a Pakistani political analyst, said that it was "ironic that Zardari is going to be Pakistan's president".

"A wave of events have pushed him into this position from spouse to the president of Pakistan.

"There is no doubt he has a controversial past and his reputation is soiled. He will have to work very hard to improve his reputation."

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