Presidential Election Live: PTI’s Arif Alvi elected 13th President of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Dr Arif Alvi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been elceted 13th President of Pakistan, according to unofficial and unconfirmed results.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the support of its allied parties has fielded Karachi-based Dr Arif Alvi, whereas Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians’ presidential candidate is Aitzaz Ahsan. JUI-Fazl’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman is in the poll arena on the behalf of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and some other opposition groups.

It is believed had the opposition parties been able to field a joint candidate, they would have made a match against PTI’s candidate. However, the PPP, PML-N and other parties failed to sink their differences and this will be to the advantage of Dr Alvi, who is most likely to replace PML-N’s Mamnoon Hussain, whose five-year term ends on September 9.

Unlike the PTI and PPPP, which actively moved around to garner support for their respective candidates, the PML-N and other opposition parties were not seen much enthusiastic to campaign for their candidate.

Sindh Assembly: Aitzaz wins

Out of total of 158 votes, Aitzaz Ahsan bagged 100 votes while PTI candidate Arif Alvi secured 56. Two votes were rejected.

As per formula, Aitzaz Ahsan got 39 and Arif Alvi 22

Balochistan Assembly: Arif Alvi wins

PTI candidate Arif Alvi has won from Balochistan securing 45 votes.

Opposition candidate Fazl-ul-Rehman received 15 while PPP's Aitzaz Ahsan bagged zero votes.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Arif Alvi wins

Arif Alvi is leading with 78 votes in KP Assembly, Fazl received 26 while Aitzaz got 5 votes.

As per formula, Arif Alvi secured 41 votes and Fazl 13 votes.

Punjab Assembly

Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in the assembly around 03:15pm to cast his vote in the presidential election.

'Professional and honest'

Minister for Information and Fawad Chaudhry said Arif Alvi is a thorough professional and honest person and his commitment with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and party’s vision is beyond any doubt.

'Historic election'

Aitzaz Ahsan termed today's election as historic in Pakistani political history. He was of the view that the election of president is a matter of contentment.

'Not sent for hibernation'

PTI's candidate Arif Alvi  was seemed confident of his victory in today's election. Talking to media persons upon his arrival at the Parliament House, Alvi said this is a start of making of 'Naya Pakistan' and my party has not selected me for the office to go in hibernation after being elected.

Alvi said that he would focus equally on all federating units for launching development projects and priorities for provision of basic amenities to masses. “PTI strongly believes in strengthening democracy,” he added.

He said water crisis is looming large and it would priority of the government to conserve water and evolve strategies for meeting the future water needs.

Voting

The voting will be held through secret ballot and out of a total of 1,174 legislators, 1,121 can exercise their right to vote in the presidential election. Up to 53 seats are vacant while some returned candidates have not yet taken oath as lawmakers.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza is the returning officer for the electoral exercise while the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has provided voters lists and ballot papers to the chief justices of the four high courts, who will be acting as presiding officers. The chief justice of Islamabad High Court will perform this duty at the Parliament House.

Election of the president is conducted under Article 41 of the Constitution for a term of five years and the minimum age for a candidate to contest the presidential election is 45 years. Polling will begin at 10:00am and continue till 4:00pm.

Presiding officers will announce the results of the respective (polling stations) legislatures, however, the final result will be made public by the chief election commissioner.

PPP vs PML-N

In a meeting with Asif Ali Zardari on Monday night, Maulana Fazlur Rehman offered conditional withdrawal from the presidential election in favour of PPP candidate Aitzaz Ahsan only if PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif approved it, said sources.

“If you convenience the PML-N and Shahbaz Sharif, then I am ready to withdraw my candidature from the presidential election,” sources quoted Fazlur Rehman as telling Zardari during the meeting, which was held here at the Zardari House.

They said the deadlock still persists as the PML-N president did not agree with the proposal for having Aitzaz Ahsan as the joint presidential candidate by the opposition.

Following the conditional offer of Fazlur Rehman, the PPP delegation left to hold a meeting with the PML-N. It would also meet Shahbaz if he was in Islamabad to convince him to support Aitzaz. The PPP delegation comprised Syed Khursheed Shah and Senator Mian Raza Rabbani. Shahbaz Sharif has reportedly been firm on his stance that the party will not vote for Aitzaz.

During the meeting at the Zardari House, besides Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F delegation had his son Maulana Asad Mehmood, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri and Senator Faiz Muhammad. The PPP delegation had Aitzaz Ahsan, Syed Khursheed Shah, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sherry Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira.

During the meeting, Fazlur Rehman said he was a candidate of the opposition parties while Aitzaz Ahsan was a candidate only of the PPP. Talking to newsmen after the meeting with Fazlur Rehman, PPPP Secretary General Farhatullah Babar said the PPP will not withdraw the candidature of Aitzaz Ahsan.

He said during the meeting, Fazlur Rehman presented his viewpoint. “We have told him that Aitzaz Ahsan is the best candidate for the presidential election,” he said. He said, “We have told Maulana Fazlur Rehman that he was a mediator to convince the PML-N and Shahbaz Sharif. Maulana Fazlur Rehman said he was a candidate of the opposition and the PPP needs to convince the PML-N for support as he could not make a decision on his own.”

Farhatullah Babar said the PPP has requested Shahbaz Sharif for his support to Aitzaz Ahsan and is waiting for a positive response from him. He was hopeful that Aitzaz Ahsan could be the opposition’s joint candidate if the PML-N agrees.

Prior to the meeting Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Zardari met BNP-Mengal Chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal to seek his support for Aitzaz. Aitzaz Ahsan, Syed Khursheed Shah, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Qamar Zaman Kaira accompanied Zardari during the meeting. Mengal was accompanied by Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni.