ISLAMABAD  -  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday dubbed the presi­dential election as unconstitu­tional and unacceptable saying the newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari grabbed the highest constitutional posi­tion due to ‘votes of mandate thieves’ while the Electoral Col­lege was incomplete.

PTI Senator Syed Ali Zafar talking to reporters here said that the presidential election was held in the country de­spite a stay order by court on reserved seats. He went on to say that this election was con­troversial, lacking transpar­ency. He added that his party participated in the election and cast votes as a symbol of pro­test and resilience, despite con­cerns about its credibility. Sepa­rately, a PTI spokesperson said that the vote of the unelected members, who took oath on the basis of ‘stolen mandate’, for the president was completely unconstitutional. He stated that a spectacle was staged in the name of the presidential elec­tion and the unelected mem­bers on reserved seats were sworn in by brazenly flouting the court order.

The spokesperson further noted that the election for the slot of the highest constitutional position without completing the Electoral College was a violation to the constitution. He alleged that after the theft of the public mandate in the daylight, making the rejected people members of the National and Punjab as­semblies by trampling upon the court order under their feet put a big question mark on the inde­pendence of the judiciary.

The PTI spokesperson made it clear that the votes of the non-elected members and those sitting in the assemblies on the basis of ‘fake Form 47’ in the Presidential elections would have no legal and constitution­al value and status. He under­scored that the only agenda to steal PTI’s mandate in the dark of the night and to deprive it of its constitutional right of the re­served seats was to help a coali­tion of corrupt sneak into power and to ensure election of the re­jected person to the highest con­stitutional office of the country.

The spokesperson recalled that those who threatened to drag each other on the streets till yesterday, as they labeled each other looters and bandits, had once again united for their vested interests to ruthless­ly plunder the national exche­quer anew. He accused that the worst series of violations of the constitution and the law along with the insult of the public mandate were brazenly contin­ued. He vowed that PTI would hold a peaceful protest across the country today (Sunday) on the call of party founder Imran Khan to reclaim the stolen man­date from the thieves.

As presidential election re­sults poured in from all legisla­tive assemblies, Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf (PTI) backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai on Sat­urday expressed his views that the country has witnessed “first of its kind of poll” for the covet­ed post without “horse-trading” in which he contested joint can­didate of ruling coalition — Asif Ali Zardari. Accepting his defeat against Pakistan Peoples Par­ty (PPP) nominee Zardari in the presidential race, Achakzai told reporters that it was a unique election in which “horse-trad­ing” was not witnessed. He con­gratulated Zardari on becoming the president of Pakistan for a second term and termed it the “beginning of a new era” as it was a “rare” poll which was held in a good environment.

He also thanked the PTI-backed lawmakers for voting in his support, however, he specifically complained about the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the National Party (NP) for not casting their votes despite announcing to sit in the opposition.