Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mamnoon Hussain will become the 12th President of Pakistan after beating his rival Wajihuddin Ahmad of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party (PTI) by securing 277 votes, Dawn reported.
The poll was a one-on-one face-off between Hussain and Wajihuddin Ahmad, a retired Supreme Court (SC) judge. Interestingly, both canddidates were born in India.
After having won the presidential elections, Hussain will replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari in September.
Presidential Elections:
The polling for the 2013 presidential elections went on from 10 am till 3 pm today. Hussain required 263 votes to win.
From the Senate and National Assembly, 277 votes were casted in favour of Hussain. Only 34 votes went in favour of Wajihuddin Ahmed.
From Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly 69 MPAs voted for Wajihuddin and 41 for Hussain. From Sindh, out of 69 votes, a majority of 64 were in favour of Hussain. In the Balochistan Assembly, 55 votes were in favour of the PML-N candidate.
According to media reports, the incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari was under tremendous pressure to withdraw his candidature for a re-run, as his safety was at stake. Zardari's chief security officer was killed in a suicide attack on 11 July.
Moreover, the polls were preponed at the instigation of the PML-N chief and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The party reportedly got the Supreme Court to change the polling dates, which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should have taken care of.
The ECP had to reschedule the secret ballot voting on 30 July for the presidential polls.
Other Opposition parties like Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League (F) have announced their support for Hussain, an India-born nominee from Sindh.
