Pakistan Presidential Election: Vote counting underway

ISLAMABAD: Polling to elect the new head of state has concluded in the Senate, National Assembly and four provincial assemblies and the vote counting is underway, Geo News reported.

PML-N’s Mamnoon Hussain and PTI’s Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed are the two candidates contesting the election.

Voting began at 10:00 am (0500 GMT) and lasted until 3:00 pm today, however, it was halted for ten minutes for Zuhr prayers.

The result is expected to be announced later today.

The president elect will take oath when the tenure of outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari will expire on September 8.

According to the reports, PML-N’s Abdul Sattar was the first person to cast his vote in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in Peshawar.

The ballot ended first in the Sindh Assembly, where the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), having the majority in the provincial assembly, boycotted the voting. It was followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly.

In KP, 110 out of 124 votes were cast, eight MPAs of ANP and PPP boycotted. Four seats were empty while two members are on leave.

Justice Wajihuddin secured 69 votes while Mamnoon Hussain got 41.

In the National Assembly, 314 total votes were cast out of which three were dismissed. PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain secured 277 votes, while 34 votes were cast for PTI candidate Justice (retd) Wajhiuddin Ahmed.

In the Sindh Assembly a total of 69 total votes were cast as the PPP boycotted the election.

PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain received 64 votes and PTI candidate Justice (retd) Wajihuddin secured five votes only.

In the Balochistan Assembly, Mamnoon Hussain secured 55 votes, while Justice (retd) Wajihuddin received only one vote.

PPP has boycotted the election, complaining it was not consulted on bringing the date forward from August 6, and its absence means Sharif's candidate is certain to win.

Candidates’ Profiles

Mamnoon Hussain

Mamnoon Hussain is the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate for the presidential election.

Hussain received his MBA from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and originally hails from Agra (India).

Mamnoon Hussain owns a textile business in Karachi and has contracts with wealthy industrialists and entrepreneurs. He was elected as the president of the Karachi Chamber and has influence in a set of Karachi based businessmen.

Hussain has been actively involved with the PML-N since 1993 when the party was in the opposition. He was appointed as the governor of Sindh by Nawaz Sharif in 1999 to serve in this position for less than six months. He has also worked as advisor to the provincial Chief Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi.

His support for Nawaz Sharif did not falter after the promulgation of military rule in October 1999.

From 1993, Mamnoon Hussain has held different positions in the Sindh branch of the PML-N. However, he would leave the PML-N post after he is elected president.

Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed

Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate for the presidential election.

The former Supreme Court judge was born on December 1, 1938 in New Delhi (India). He attained his BA in Liberal Arts in 1962 from Forman Christian College and his LLB from Sindh Muslim College in 1966. Justice (retd) Wajihuddin was awarded a JD degree by Karachi University in 1971.

In 1977 and 1978, Wajih was elected as the President of the Sind High Court and also served as the President of the Karachi Bar Association in 1981. In 1999 in opposition to martial law, Wajih refused to take oath as the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court after serving in the position for a brief tenure. He was later elevated to the Supreme Court and resigned from the position in 2001 over signing under the PCO.

A prominent member of the lawyers’ movement, Wajih unsuccessfully ran for the presidential election in 2007 against President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.