The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday issued final list of candidates contesting presidential elections.
According to the ECP, July 30 will see a one-on-one contest between ruling PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain and PTI candidate Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ibrahim has announced the names of Hussain and Ahmad as valid candidates. 706 lawmakers of National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies would elect next president on Tuesday.
As many as 23 candidates submitted their nomination papers for contesting presidential elections, of which the ECP accepted only three of them. However, on Saturday, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra of PML-N, who submitted his nomination papers as covering candidate, withdrew his nomination papers.
After his withdrawal, now Hussain and Ahmed are in the race. The nomination papers of PPP candidate Raza Rabbani were rejected on the ground that he did not appear before the ECP after announcing boycott of the elections.
The party position of different political groups in the Senate, National Assembly and four provincial assemblies indicates Hussain is expected to register comfortable victory. Currently, he is enjoying support of 366 lawmakers against the 89 votes of PTI’s Wajihuddin. However, in case main opposition party, the PPP which announced to boycott the election decides to support Ahmed then later could get over 200 votes.
The PML-N so far has around 360 votes, including that of its allies in Sindh and Balochistan – the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, the National Party and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the MQM.
The electoral college of Pakistan is formed by a joint sitting of the six leading political bodies of the country, the Senate of Pakistan, the National Assembly of Pakistan, the Punjab Assembly, the Sindh Assembly, the Balochistan Assembly and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
Each province has an equal vote; all provincial assemblies are given exactly 65 votes in the electoral college. This mean that the each member of the Punjab Assembly has 65/370 = 0.176 votes, each member of the Sindh Assembly has 65/168 = 0.387 votes, each member of the KPK Assembly has 65/124 = 0.524 votes and each member of the Balochistan Assembly has 65/65 = 1 vote.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the ECP told Pakistan Today that process of printing of 2,000 ballot papers was in the progress and would be sent to national and provincial assemblies on Monday (today).
