An overwhelming majority of 162 members of Sindh Assembly on Saturday voted for Pakistan People's Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in the presidential election. Other two candidates, Mushahid Hussain and Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui could not secure a single vote. Total number of members in Sindh Assembly stands at 168 with case for the two minority seats still pending in the court.
This brought the number of voters to 166, out of which 163 members used their votes while three were absent. Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali of Sindh High Court (SHC), who presided over the session, declared Zardari as victorious after counting 162 votes in his favour with one vote being invalid.
"The other two candidates (Mushahid Hussain Syed and Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui did not secure any vote from this house," said the chief justice amid shouts of "Long Live Bhutto" by the PPP members celebrating, what later Shazia Marri said a "historic victory". Of the 163 present voters, 92 were from PPP, 50 from MQM, 8 from PML-Q, 8 from PML-F, 3 from National People's Party (NPP) and two from Awami National Party (ANP).
Three voters, Mir Nadir Khan Magsi of PPP, Dr Ghulam Arbab Rahim of PML-Q and Dr Mohammad Ali Shah of MQM, did not come to the house for balloting. The 162 votes would earn 62.79 votes for Zardari in the president's Electoral College that comprises the Senate, National Assembly and four provincial assemblies of the country.
It may be mentioned here that in case of two-member candidature a presidential candidate must win 51 percent votes from the Electoral College, but if more than two candidates are involved a simple majority decides victory of a presidential hopeful. While Provincial Election Commissioner Chauwdhry Qamaruzzaman, Secretary Sindh Assembly Hadi Bux Buriro and a registrar of SHC served as polling officers, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Salim Zia and Yousaf Alvi were the polling agents respectively from PPP, Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
Though Abdul Haque Bhurt of PPP was the first in alphabetical order to caste the vote but, Abdul Haseeb of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) preceded him and became the first voter. Among the female voters Ayesha Khoso was the first to go for balloting. Meanwhile, US Consul General Kay L Anske, who visited the provincial legislature to see the presidential election process on the request of Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, told the media persons that this was the people of Pakistan who would elect their president.
She said Washington would work with the new head of the state to promote democracy in Pakistan, when asked why her government was interfering in Pakistan's domestic affairs. Later, talking to media Leader of the Opposition Jam Madad Ali said they were ordered by the party chief Pir Pagaro at around 2:30 pm, just half-an-hour before closing of the polling, to vote for Zardari, who was a candidate from the Sindh province.
He said by electing Zardari, the Assembly had echoed the voice of the people of Sindh, who, he said, had attached great expectations from the PPP leadership. Nusrat Bano Seher Abbasi and Marvi Rashdi of PML-F said their party had supported Zardari after their party chief had received a phone call from the PPP co-chairman requesting his support.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah terming the result as the best and the most prominent congratulated and thanked the PPP's coalition partners and opposition for their support. NPP leader Masroor Jatoi, who along with PML-Q's forward lock had caste his vote as soon as the polling was started at 10am, said his party had participated in balloting in its individual capacity and not as a part of the opposition.
Information Minister Shazia Marri also called the victory as a "historic moment" and said the election results had showed that the people of Sindh were in a dire need for political stability and not ready for any confrontation. When asked if Zardari had telephoned Pagaro for support, the information minister said her party was from the very outset engaged in political dialogues with all the political parties of the country.
She, however, did not confirm any telephonic contact on Saturday between the leadership of PPP and PML-F. When asked if his party would include Muhajir Qaumi Movement-Haquiqi (MQM-H) in the reconciliation process after becoming all in all in terms of political power, Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said the PPP "is open for all, but not for the terrorists".