Lawmakers in Pakistan on Tuesday began casting their votes to elect the country’s next president, the government radio channel reported. The voting process began at 10 am (10.30 am Indian time) and is expected to go on for six hours. The tenure of the outgoing president, Mamnoon Hussain, ends on Saturday.
Three candidates – Arif Alvi, Aitzaz Ahsan and Maulana Fazl ul Rehman – are in the fray. Alvi was nominated by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Ahsan by the Pakistan Peoples Party, and Fazl ul Rehman was jointly fielded by all other Opposition parties.
Alvi is likely to win the election as the ruling party controls the National Assembly and has majorities in the provinces of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf does not have a majority in Balochistan, but it reportedly has the support of the ruling party in the province.
Nadeem Qasim, the additional director general of the Election Commission of Pakistan, said the chief election commissioner will submit the results to the federal government on Wednesday, Dawn reported.
The combined voting strength of the Senate, the National Assembly and four provincial Assemblies is 1,121. However, the electoral college has only 706 votes as the election for the president applies the proportional representation system to the four Assemblies.
Lawmakers in the Senate, the National Assembly and the Balochistan provincial Assembly have one vote each. The value of votes of lawmakers in the other three Assemblies is proportionately scaled down as they have more members than Balochistan.
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