Asif Ali Zardari, backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), was elected the 14th president of Pakistan.
Out of 398 parliamentarians, 381 cast their votes, while 17 decided to abstain. Additionally, 12 Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) members abstained from the presidential election. Other lawmakers who did not participate include a Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) representative, Senators Shibli Faraz, Ijaz Chaudhry, and Azam Swati from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), and Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah from the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA).
Zardari’s victory was marked by a majority in the electoral college, consisting of the parliament and provincial assemblies; his second tenure as the President of Pakistan was a notable event in the country’s parliamentary history.
Zardari received an overwhelming 411 votes, overshadowing the SIC-endorsed candidate, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who secured only 181 votes.
In the federal joint session of the National Assembly and Senate, Zardari, the coalition government’s nominee, achieved 255 votes, compared to Achakzai’s 119 votes. Additionally, the provincial assemblies held their sessions on the same day, underscoring the synchronized effort across various levels of government to elect the president.
The electoral battle was primarily between Asif Ali Zardari, representing a joint candidacy from the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, supported by the SIC.
The President of Pakistan is elected by an electoral college that includes members from the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four provincial assemblies.
