Zardari gets elected as president for historic second time with overwhelming majority

• Ackakzai bags 181 votes, secures majority of votes in KP Assembly.
• CJP Isa will administer oath to president-elect at 4pm today.
• Election of Zardari as president not "good omen" for democracy: PTI. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of the ruling alliance, was elected as the country’s president for the second time after he defeated PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominee Mahmood Khan Achakzai with a huge margin.

Zardari Saturday secured 411 electoral votes in parliament and all four provincial assemblies with the backing of allied parties — mainly Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

Ackakzai bagged 181 votes as he was only able to secure the majority of votes in the PTI-backed SIC-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Prominent lawmakers who cast ballots in the National Assembly include former premier Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Zardari, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Farooq Sattar. PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Asad Qaiser, and Achakzai among others also voted in the presidential election.

To ensure democratic traditions, Zardari also met his rival candidate Achakzai in the House.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will administer an oath to President-elect Zardari at 4pm today (Sunday) at the President House.  

As many as 381 lawmakers out of 398 cast ballots in both houses of parliament, while 17 lawmakers belonging to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamat-e-Islami (JI), PTI, and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) did not cast vote in the presidential election due to different 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.

Likewise, in the three provincial assemblies — Sindh, Balochistan, and KP — Zardari obtained a majority of votes while Ackakzai was only able to win the majority vote in the KP Assembly.

Presidential election: Breakdown of electoral votes

- Parliament — NA/Senate

• Asif Ali Zardari — 255
• Mahmood Khan Achakzai — 119

- Sindh Assembly

• Zardari — 58
• Achakzai — 3

- Punjab Assembly

• Zardari — 43
• Achakzai — 18

- KP Assembly

• Zardari — 8
• Achakzai — 41

- Balochistan Assembly

• Zardari — 47
• Achakzai — 0

- Total

• Zardari — 411
• Achakzai — 181

ECP notifies presidential election result

Following the poll, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified the results of the presidential election, stating that the total number of seats in the electoral college were 1,185, out of which 92 seats were vacant/result withheld or oath was not taken by the returned candidates in the Senate and assemblies. 

The remaining 1,093 voters were to exercise their right to vote.

According to the "Result of Count" received from all the presiding Officers, the number of voters who have actually exercised their right to vote is 1044. Out of these votes, 9 votes were declared invalid by the respective presiding officers, the ECP added. 

According to the ECP's statement, the total number of valid votes cast is 1,035. On the basis of total valid votes cast in favour of each candidate, PP's Zardari has secured 411 votes whereas PTI-backed SIC Achakzai has secured 181 votes, it added.

'Zardari's win not good omen for democracy'

Speaking to the media, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said the election of Asif Ali Zardari as president of the country is not a good omen for the country's democracy. 

He said "occupying" constitutional posts via illegal means is tantamount to the abrogation of the Constitution.

Similarly, other PTI leaders including Omar Ayub Khan and Latif Khosa also termed the presidential election as "illegal".

"Today's election is the murder of democracy. The stolen mandate should be returned to the people," Khosa said while demanding the ECP to allocate reserved seats to the PTI-backed SIC candidates.

Meanwhile, PTI-backed SIC candidate Achakzai congratulated Zardari on winning presidential race and conceded defeat, terming the poll as “first of its kind” and free of horse-trading. 

Terming the election as "beginning of a new era," Achakzai told reporters that polls were held in good environment and no horse-trading was witnessed during the election of the head of the state.