Joint candidate of PML-N, PPP Asif Ali Zardari bags 411 votes n PTI-SIC candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai secures 181 votes n JUIF members in KP assembly boycott presidential elections n PPP leader gets majority of votes in all assemblies except KP n Zardari thanks Shehbaz for support.

 

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI/PESHAWAR/QUETTA  -  Joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari was elect­ed as the 14th President of Paki­stan on Saturday.

According to the results an­nounced by the Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP), Asif Ali Zardari bagged four hundred and eleven votes from the Senate, the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. His rival Sunni Ittehad Council’s candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai got one hundred and eighty one votes.

Zardari, who previously served as president from 2008 to 2013, is now poised to succeed the out­going President Dr Arif Alvi. He secured victory in the presiden­tial race, surpassing his rival can­didate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and nomi­nee of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who secured 181 votes.

In the election held at the Par­liament House in Islamabad, Asif Ali Zardari secured two hundred and fifty five votes while Mah­mood Khan Achakzai received one hundred and nineteen votes. In the Punjab Assembly, Zardari garnered two hundred and forty-six votes while Achakzai trailed with one hundred votes. The Sindh Assembly results showed Asif Ali Zardari securing one hundred and fifty-one votes and Mahmood Khan Achakzai nine votes. In Balochistan Assembly, Asif Ali Zardari got forty-seven votes while his rival could not secure even a single one.

In the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Asif Ali Zardari se­cured seventeen votes and Mahmood Khan Achakzai clinched ninety-one votes. It may be added that Asif Ali Zardari will be the first elect­ed President of Pakistan, who manages to reach the Presi­dent office for the second time.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid a visit to the resi­dence of President-elect Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad late Saturday and congratulated him on his election as head of the state for the second time. The prime minister ex­pressed good wishes for Asif Ali Zardari. President-elect Asif Ali Zardari thanked She­hbaz Sharif for support in the Presidential elections.

In a message, Shehbaz Shar­if said that the Senate, Nation­al Assembly and elected mem­bers of the four provincial assemblies have expressed their confidence in Asif Ali Zardari. The Prime Minister said that Asif Ali Zardari will be a symbol of strength of the federation. He hoped that as President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari will fulfill constitu­tional responsibilities in effi­cient manner. He said coalition parties will work together for development and prosperity of Pakistan. According to the ECP, the presidential polls held simultaneously at the Parlia­ment House and the four pro­vincial assemblies saw partic­ipation from a total of 1,044 voters. Among the votes cast, nine were deemed invalid. To­tal valid votes cast were 1,035.

Following the application of the provisions outlined in paragraph 18 of the Sec­ond Schedule of the Consti­tution to the total valid votes, Zardari garnered 411 votes and Achakzai count amounted to 181 votes. 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated that the official tally of results on Form-VII will be compiled and sent to the federal government on Sunday, once the original records from the Presiding Of­ficers are received, enabling the federal government to is­sue the formal notification.

According to ECP, total seats in electoral college were 1,185. Out of which 92 seats were va­cant. Remaining 1,093 were re­quired to cast their votes. Based on the breakdown of votes, out of the votes cast in both the National Assembly and Sen­ate, Zardari from PPPP secured 255 votes, while Achakzai from PkMAP attained 119 votes. Additionally, one votes were deemed invalid.

‘PUNJAB ASSEMBLY’

Polling for the presidential election concluded at 4:00 pm in Punjab Assembly which started at 10:00 am on Sat­urday. Out of 355 members of the Punjab Assembly, 352 members exercised their right to vote. Counting was carried out in the presence of polling agents of both candidates. 

Election Commission mem­ber Nisar Durrani, who per­formed the duty of presiding officer, announced that Paki­stan Peoples Party’s Asif Ali Zardari bagged 246 votes for the presidential slot while his contender, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, obtained 100 votes. Six votes were rejected.

‘BALOCHISTAN ASSEMBLY’

Asif Ali Zardari, the joint can­didate of the ruling alliance se­cured all 47 votes in the Ba­lochistan Assembly.

Sunni Ittehad Council’s candidate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai could not secure a single vote in the Balochistan Assembly. The polling for the election to the president slot was completed in the Baloch­istan Assembly to elect the 14th president of the country.

‘KP ASSEMBLY’

Mehmood Khan Achakzai of Sunni Itehad Council secured 91 votes while Asif Ali Zardari of federal coalition govern­ment got 17 votes on Saturday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa As­sembly for President of Paki­stan post. According to formula results announced by Presid­ing Officer, Chief Justice Pesha­war High Court Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Mehmood Khan Achakzai got 40.80 votes while Asif Ali Zardari secured 7.62 votes and one vote has been re­jected. Polling was started at 10am and was continued till 4pm without any break under the supervision of Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Muham­mad Ibrahim Khan. 

Minister Arshad Ayub had polled first vote to begin elec­toral process. 109 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa As­sembly were participated in the presidential election.

Nine members of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam did not partic­ipate in voting after announc­ing boycott of the elections. There was one-on-one con­test between Asif Ali Zardari, the candidate of the feder­al coalition government, and Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Sunni Itehad Council.

Parliamentary Leader of PPP Ahmad Karim Kundi was the polling agent of Asif Ali Zardari, while Minister Mina Khan was the polling agent of Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

The members of Paki­stan Muslim League-N, Peo­ple’s Party, PTIP and ANP has polled vote in favor of Asif Ali Zardari. More than 350 secu­rity personnel were deployed for holding peaceful election.

‘SINDH ASSEMBLY’

The PPPP candidate for the Presidential elections Asif Ali Zardari has secured 151 votes and declared successful in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh on Saturday. While Pash­tunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) Chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai supported by law­makers from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) got only 9 votes. A total of 161 votes out of 162 were casted in the election and one lawmaker abstained him­self from voting, whereas 1 vote was declared as invalid.

The election results were an­nounced by the Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC)/ Pre­siding Officer Mr Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi. In all 160 votes were termed as valid out of 162 votes and Asif Ali Zardari was declared successful can­didate for the presidency from the Provincial Assembly of Sindh. The members of Jami­at Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in the provincial assembly on Saturday boycotted the presi­dential elections.

There were nine elected members of JUIF in the house who didn’t use their right to vote for any presidential can­didate as per the directives of the party leadership. There was a contest between Asif Ali Zardari, the candidate of the federal coalition government, and Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Sunni Union Council.