LAHORE: The presidential candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Mamnoon Hussain, was elected 12th President of Pakistan on Tuesday. The President-elect will take the oath for a term of five years on 8 September, 2013 when incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari’s constitutional tenure is due to expire.
The President-elect Mamnoon Hussain received 432 votes from two houses of the Parliament – National Assembly and Senate – and four provincial assemblies, whereas his opponent, retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) secured 77 votes. The result was announced by retired Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan. Nine votes were declared invalid by the CEC. According to the CEC, as many as 1174 law-makers exercised their right to vote during the presidential polls.
Hussain secured 277 votes from the National Assembly and Senate, 54 from Punjab, 55 from Balochistan, 21 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 25 from Sindh. Ahmed received 34 votes from both houses of Parliament, 4 from Punjab, 1 from Balochistan, 36 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2 from Sindh.
A 73-year old textile-businessman, Hussain was born in Agra, India. He has been a member of the Muslim League since late 1960s. He also served as Governor of Sindh province in 1999 during the second term of Nawaz Sharif’s premiership.
The former ruling Pakistan People’s Party’s presidential candidate, Raza Rabbani, boycotted the polls as a protest against rescheduling of the elections by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
In a surprise move, the Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan Resigned, even though his constitutional term does not end until 2017.
