Zardari elected President for second time

ISLAMABAD: The co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of the six-party ruling coalition, was elected the 14th president of Pakistan on Saturday by securing 411 votes – for the second time – defeating the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)’s candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai who bagged only 181 votes. Zardari, 68, who is the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and father of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was declared elected by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after he emerged victorious from all the four provinces, National Assembly, and Senate.

“On the basis of total valid votes cast in favour of each candidate, the result has been determined in light of the provisions of paragraph 18 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution according to which, Asif Ali Zardari has secured 411 votes, whereas, Mehmood Khan Achakzai has secured 181 votes,” declared the ECP.

It said that the total number of seats in the electoral college was 1,185, of which, 92 seats were vacant/ result withheld or oath was not taken by the returned candidates in Senate and assemblies, adding the remaining 1,093 votes were to exercise their right of vote.

Asif Ali Zardari elected as 14th president of Pakistan

“According to the result of the count received from all the presiding officers, the number of voters who have actually exercised their right of vote is 1,044, of which, nine votes have been declared invalid by the respective presiding officers. Thus, the total number of valid votes cast is 1,035,” it added.

Zardari was the joint candidate of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) while his rival Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, contested the elections as the candidate of the opposition’s PTI-backed SIC.

Zardari secured 255 votes while his rival Achakzai bagged 119 votes in parliament comprising National Assembly and Senate. Only one vote was rejected in parliament, declared the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Ammer Farooq, who conducted the elections as presiding officer.

In the Sindh Assembly, where Zardari’s PPP rules the roost, he bagged 151 votes while Achakzai only managed to get nine votes. One vote was rejected.

In Punjab, where Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is in power, Zardari received 246 votes while his opponent Achakzai managed to get 100 votes.

Out of the 352 votes cast in Punjab, six were rejected. The counting of votes took place under the ECP’s presiding officer, Nisar Durrani.

Zardari swept the Balochistan Assembly votes during the presidential election, as 47 members from Balochistan cast their votes, with all of them voting for Zardari and none for Achakzai.

Fifteen members were absent from the assembly.

However, Achakzai bagged 91 votes in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly while Zardari managed only 17 votes.

A total of 109 votes were cast from KP and only one vote was rejected.

As many as 381 lawmakers out of 398 cast their votes in both houses of parliament – National Assembly and Senate – while 17 MPs belonging to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), PTI, and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) did not cast vote in the presidential election due to various reasons.

The JUI-F, JI, and GDA had announced a boycott of the presidential elections, while PTI senators, Shibli Faraz, Ijaz Chaudhry, and Azam Swati also did not participate in the voting.

During the voting process which started at 10am and ended at 4pm, slogans were shouted in favour of Zardari and Achakzai by their respective supporters.

At one point, the IHC chief justice who was conducting the election also warned the SIC lawmaker to stop sloganeering inside the house and he would be left with no option but to send them out of the hall. However, they continued shouting slogans throughout the voting process.

After the results were declared, the MPs belonging to the coalition who supported Zardari in the presidential elections went to the seat of Bilawal and congratulated him on the victory of his father as the trio Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and Shehbaz Sharif left the house in the afternoon after casting their votes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024