Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi (Urdu: عارف الرحمٰن علوی) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 13th president of Pakistan, in office from 2018 to 2024.

He was elected as the 13th President of Pakistan after defeating Fazal-ur-Rehman and Aitzaz Ahsan, after which he resigned from the National Assembly and was sworn into office on 9 September 2018, succeeding Mamnoon Hussain.

His father, Habib-ur-Rehman Elahi Alvi, was a dentist in Delhi, British India who migrated to Karachi after the establishment of Pakistan,[3] and opened a dental clinic in Saddar Town.

[10][21] In an interview, he told that during his early days, he was a critic of the Ayub Khan regime and was shot twice while participating in a protest in 1969 at The Mall, Lahore; a bullet still remains lodged in his body.

[5] According to Alvi, he left the party because he had become disillusioned with their narrow focus on politics and had "always felt honest leadership is the real solution to Pakistan’s problems".

[25] Alvi ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-89 (Karachi South-V) in the 1997 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.

[25] He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-90 (Karachi-II) in the 2002 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful.

[9][25] He came in at sixth place securing 1,276 votes and lost the seat to Umer Sadiq, a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

[34] During the 2014 Tsunami March, police invoked the Anti-Terrorism Act against Alvi and several other PTI leaders for allegedly inciting violence.

[37] In 2018, The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted pre-arrest bail to PTI leaders, including Alvi, in cases related to the 2014 attack on Parliament House and PTV.

[52] In June 2024, he expressed concerns that the military trials involving civilians connected to the May 9 riots could potentially tarnish the reputation of the army domestically and internationally.

The motion was successful after 174 MNAs voted in its favour (172 were needed), thus ending Imran Khan's term as prime minister.

[57] In April 2022, President Alvi faced criticism for missing the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif due to illness.

He waited until the last moment to do so after twice rejecting summaries from the caretaker prime minister, citing concerns over the allocation of reserved seats to PTI.

[57] The Friday Times wrote that Alvi's presidency was marked by a troubled legacy riddled with controversies and disputes with elected governments and state institutions.

[57] The News in its editorial wrote that despite criticism from legal experts, the judiciary, and political opponents, Alvi's presidency faced allegations of prioritizing party interests over national concerns.

[58] In July 2024, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar announced that the government had decided to ban PTI and pursue Article 6 proceedings for high treason against Imran Khan and Alvi.