ISLAMABAD – During the presidential election, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other political leaders voted in the National Assembly.
In addition to the Senate, voting for the country’s head of state takes place simultaneously in the national and provincial parliament.
Premier Shehbaz Sharif, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Abdul Aleem Khan, Ishaq Dar, and other political figures voted in the National Assembly.
Senator Faisal Javed, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, Asad Qaiser, Akhtar Mengal, and Mahmood Khan Achakzai also voted.
Meanwhile, 300 senators and members of the National Assembly had voted by 3 p.m. As many as 200 legislators in the Punjab Assembly had cast their votes. In the Sindh Assembly, 161 out of 162 legislators cast their votes.
In the Balochistan Assembly, which currently has 62 members, 46 MPs exercised their right to vote in the presidential election. Similarly, 109 MPs from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly voted for their presidential candidate. The assembly currently has 111 eligible voters.
Who will be Pakistan’s fourteenth president?
National and provincial parliament are now voting in the presidential election to pick Pakistan’s 14th president for the next five years. The vote will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., without interruption.
Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), an Mahmood Khan d Achakzai, chairman of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), are running for the coveted position.
Amer Talal cast the first vote in the presidential election, with Abdul Aleem Khan casting the second. Two polling booths and two counters have been set up in the National Assembly for voting purposes.
Former President Asif Ali Zardari, a joint candidate of the PPP, PML-N, MQM-P, and other coalition parties, is running for president against Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) head Mahmood Achakzai, the Sunni Ittehad Council’s nominee.
Sherry Rehman will serve as Asif Ali Zardari’s polling agent, while Senator Sardar Shafique will represent Achakzai. The election will be presided over by Aamer Farooq, Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court.
How to cast your vote
Voters must carry identity cards issued by the National and Provincial assemblies, as well as the Senate Secretariat, with them. The voter will mark a cross in front of the name of his or her preferred candidate on the ballot paper using a special pencil.
The presidential election will be held simultaneously in the Senate, National Assembly, and four provincial assemblies. The voting is done by secret ballot.
Similarly, the provincial assemblies will convene for the election.
MQM-P supports Zardari.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) announced on Friday that it will vote for Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of the PPP and the PML-N, in the presidential election.
Speaking to the media following a meeting with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, MQM-P convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stated that the presidential election was very important after the prime minister’s election, and he assured the PPP that they would vote for Zardari.