Ruling alliance confident of Zardari’s victory in today’s presidential election

Backed by PML-N, PPP Asif Ali Zardari and SIC’s Mahmood Khan Achakzai vying for office of President n Maryam Nawaz, Bilawal Bhutto address joint parliamentary party meeting in Lahore n Maryam assures Bilawal her PML-N party will vote for Asif Ali Zardari n Says it is to move towards reconciliation n Bilawal greets Maryam on becoming Punjab CM n PPP leader calls for overcoming polarisation within society.

 

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD  -  Presidential elections will be held today to elect the 14th Pres­ident of Pakistan for next five years. Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of PPP and the PML-N, and Sunni Ittehad Council’s can­didate Mahmood Khan Achakzai are vying for the office of Presi­dent. The President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of the Senate, National Assembly and the four provin­cial assemblies. Voting is held through a secret ballot.

A joint session of the Parlia­ment will be held at the Parlia­ment House in Islamabad in which the members of National Assembly and the Senate will exercise their right to vote. Simi­larly, the provincial assemblies will hold their sessions tomor­row for the election. Polling will begin at 10:00 am and continue till 4:00 pm. The Punjab Assem­bly members will exercise their right to vote for the election of the new president. 

Under the 6.1 formula, the Punjab Assembly has 54 presi­dential votes. Out of these, Asif Ali Zardari is expected to get 36 votes whereas his rival Mah­mood Khan Achakzai is expected to obtain 18 votes based on the respective numerical strengths of the Treasury and the Opposi­tion. Meanwhile, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Lahore on Friday for canvass­ing on behalf of his father Asif Ali Zardari who is a candidate for election of the president. He addressed the parliamenta­ry party of the PML-N and allied parties at the Governor House along with Punjab Chief Minis­ter Maryam Nawaz Sharif as the two leaders exchanged pleas­antries and good wishes. 

Bilawal extended his greetings to Maryam Nawaz upon assum­ing the role of Punjab Chief Minis­ter. He also underscored the need to overcome polarisation with­in society to progress collective­ly. He expressed hope that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the President would collaborate ef­fectively to address all existing challenges facing the country.

The PPP chairman thanked CM Maryam Nawaz and others for showing their complete support. Bilawal Bhutto stated that Asif Ali Zardari deals affectionate­ly with him and with all the po­litical parties. “My father takes care of everyone else as much as he takes care of me”, Bilawal ob­served. 

He hoped that the Ramazan relief package announced by the Punjab government would greatly benefit the impoverished people of the province. 

PML-Q leader Ch Shafay Hus­sain, IPP’s Ghazanfar Abbas Cheema, Zia League’s Ch. Ghu­lam Murtaza and other mem­bers participated in the parlia­mentary party meeting. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif assured Bilawal that the PML-N legislators would vote for Asif Ali Zardari as he was the joint candidate of the PPP and the PML-N. “We would have voted for Asif Ali Zardari even if Bilaw­al had not come to seek support from the PML-N”, she remarked. 

She urged all assembly mem­bers to come to cast their votes according to the party disci­pline. “Asif Ali Zardari’s assump­tion that the office of the Awan-e-Sadar is welcoming as the arrival of a political personality will prove to be fruitful. Asif Ali Zardari’s relationship and meet­ings are above political affilia­tions. We have good relations with Asif Ali Zardari”, she ob­served. Maryam Nawaz thanked Allah Almighty for ridding the nation from the violator of the constitution. Without naming incumbent President Dr Arif Alvi, Maryam said: “The nation will remember the one violat­ing the constitution by assuming the constitutional position. The nation will not remember the one departing from the Awan-e-Sadar in good words.” Talking about the constitutional role of a president, she said the Presi­dent facilitates the government so that the country can be run smoothly. She said it was not ap­preciable for a president to re­frain from performing his con­stitutional duty just because he did not like a particular political party in the government. 

Maryam Nawaz stated that it was time to get rid of the prevail­ing crisis and move towards rec­onciliation. Referring to the PTI backed social media, Maryam said: “The cartoon network run­ning all the time in Pakistan should be shut down. Bickering and fights should not occur after the elections”. She said those de­prived of bread and butter were awaiting our attention. She fur­ther stated that it was the demo­cratic requirement and practice to talk by remaining within the limits of morality and decency. 

The chief minister stated that it was time to work in tandem ir­respective of personal interests as the problems are so much ag­gravated that no political party could resolve them on its own. 

“The common agenda of PML-N, PPP, PML-Q, IPP and Zia League is to rid the country out of crisis”, she remarked. Lat­er, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhut­to met with the Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz. CM wel­comed Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto on his arrival. Chairman PPP felicitated Maryam Nawaz for assuming the office of Chief Minister Punjab. Matters per­taining to adopting a joint strat­egy in the Presidential election also came under discussion. Ad­dressing the parliamentary par­ty meeting, Maryam said Punjab Assembly was now dominated by the women. “It is my message for all the women that I am the Chief Minister of everyone and urge everyone to come forward and play their due role for the progress and prosperity of our country”, she said. 

Paying tributes to women leaders on the International Day of Women, she said:” Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and Benazir Bhut­to Shaheed are our ideal women. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed holds the distinction of becoming the first Prime Minister of the Is­lamic world. I only met Mohtar­ma Benazir Bhutto for once and its pleasant effects can be felt even up till now. I remember my mother a lot on the International Women’s Day as she was a brave lady. The love and guidance of my mother is a beacon light for me in the shape of a manual. It is not easy for a woman to run a house and establish her identity by getting out of her house. The dignity of a woman getting out of her house for the attainment of a higher goal is praiseworthy”.

PPP supremo Asif Ali Zardari will be the first civilian to be elected as the President for a second term after the presiden­tial elections today (March 9) – which he is expected to win comfortably. Zardari previous­ly served as the President from 2008 to 2013. Yesterday, PPP chairman hosted Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif and allies at a dinner ahead of the presiden­tial polls. The PM and other al­lies vowed to vote for Zardari and elect him to the post for a second time.

Dr Arif Alvi, the current presi­dent whose five-year term end­ed last year, has continued in of­fice pending the formation of the new electoral college. Zardari is the widower of the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The 68 years old serves as the co-chair­man of the PPP and enjoys the support of the coalition govern­ment led by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), which holds the required majority to ensure his victory.

This election follows a recip­rocal agreement after the frac­tured mandate from the Febru­ary 8 polls. The PPP supported the PML-N’s candidate for the Prime Minister’s slot, and in re­turn, PPP’s nominee was ap­proved for the President’s slot.

Zardari’s main challenger is Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awa­mi Party (PkMAP), who is con­testing from the platform of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which gained prominence after independent candidates backed by the jailed former Prime Min­ister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined its ranks.

The ruling coalition is confi­dent in Zardari’s election for a second term as President, given their majority in the Senate, Na­tional Assembly, Punjab Assem­bly, Sindh Assembly, and Baloch­istan Assembly. The opposition holds a majority only in the Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

Meanwhile, Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai Friday wrote a letter to the Elec­tion Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking the postpone­ment of the presidential elec­tions , which is scheduled to be held today (Saturday).

Achakzai, nominee of Sun­ni Ittehad Council, took a plea that in an “incomplete elector­al college” presidential elections are not possible. In a letter ad­dressed to Chief Election Com­missioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, mentioned that the electoral college prescribed for the elec­tion of the president under the law and Constitution was “in­complete”. “[…] If the presiden­tial election is conducted as per the schedule, that would be a de­nial of their votes, which other­wise is against the fundamental rights, law and Constitution,” the letter highlighted.