India-born Pakistani businessman Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was elected on Tuesday as the 12th President of Pakistan after he trounced his lone opponent in a one-sided contest.
Hussain, 73, will be sworn in on September 9 at the presidential palace due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari, who is stepping down after completing his five-year term. Hussain emerged as a clear winner in the contest with ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmed of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, State media reported. Pakistan Peoples Party had withdrawn its candidate Raza Rabbani and boycotted the election protesting change of poll dates from August 6 to July 30 on Supreme Court’s directions.
lawmakers from both houses of the national parliament and four provincial assemblies voted in the two-man race for the top post. The polling started at 10.00 am amidst tight security arrangements and was over by 15:00 pm on Tuesday. According to the unofficial results, 277 votes were cast from the Senate and National Assembly in favour of Hussain. He required 263 votes to win, a target his party was in a position to comfortably achieve. And 34 votes were polled in favour of Ahmed, while three votes were rejected by polling staff. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, 110 lawmakers voted in the presidential poll — 69 MPAs voted for Ahmed and 41 for Hussain. Sindh Assembly saw 69 out of 71 lawmakers cast their votes with 64 in favour of Mamnoon and five for Ahmed.