ISLAMABAD, Sept 8: The first elected president in the country’s history to complete his five-year term, Asif Ali Zardari vacated the presidency on Sunday with full official protocol.

President-elect Mamnoon Hussain, who belongs to the ruling PML-N, will take oath of office on Monday and Mr Zardari will also attend the ceremony.

Clad in black suit, Mr Zardari left his office in the afternoon to receive a guard of honour presented by smartly turned-out personnel of the armed forces.

“The president looked relaxed and a contented man when he left the presidency,” said an official.

Before leaving, Mr Zardari met officials and staff of the presidency and as he came out he was escorted to the saluting dais for the guard of honour.

After the ceremony, he went straight to airport to fly to Lahore.

Heads of almost all political parties felicitated Mr Zardari on completing his five-year term.

One of Mr Zardari’s major achievements hailed by political parties was transfer of president’s powers to parliament and the prime minister under the 18th Amendment.

National Assembly’s speaker Ayaz Sadiq praised Mr Zardari for having voluntarily surrendered his powers which all previous heads of state loved to wield.

“It was Mr Zardari’s big achievement that he transferred his powers to parliament and the prime minister,” he said.

Mr Zardari’s policy of reconciliation was also praised and it was noted that not a single case of political victimisation had been reported during his tenure.

Over the past few days in the presidency, Mr Zardari received a number of farewell receptions and met diplomats, politicians and senior civil and military officials who congratulated him on completing his term.

In a rare show of political maturity, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hosted a farewell for Mr Zardari at the Prime Minister’s House.

Mr Zardari assured the PML-N government of full support of the opposition during the next five years.The prime minister said it was the first reception given at the PM’s House to an outgoing head of state.

Earlier, the opposition hosted a reception for Mr Zardari in the parliament building.

It may be mentioned that a PPP government which had given a guard of honour to Gen Pervez Musharraf in 2008 had faced severe criticism.

Presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that during his term President Zardari had faced many ups and downs and remained under severe criticism of media and opposition parties.

After leaving the presidency Mr Zardari would focus on reorganising the PPP which suffered defeat in the 2013 general elections, especially in Punjab.

After Mr Zardari’s departure, Farhatullah Babar resigned as presidency’s spokesman.