–Failure of Opp parties to field joint candidate is expected to provide a virtual walkover to Dr Arif Alvi
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Arif Alvi is likely to secure an easy victory over Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and joint opposition’s nominee Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the presidential election scheduled to be held on September 4 (Tuesday).
In a major blow to the joint opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has categorically rejected to support PPP nominee Aitzaz Ahsan for the presidential election. The decision was conveyed to a PPP delegation which met PML-N leadership.
Earlier, Fazlur Rehman had agreed on a ‘conditional withdrawal’ of his candidature from the presidential race. In a meeting with PPP leadership, Fazl told Asif Ali Zardari that if the PPP leadership convinces Shehbaz Sharif then he is ready to withdraw from the presidential race.
The senior PPP leadership then left to meet Shehbaz Sharif over the matter when they were informed of the decision of the PML-N to not support Ahsan.
As the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) wrapped up the preparations for the election, polling stations have been set up in all four provincial assemblies in addition to the National Assembly. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sardar Raza Khan will serve as the Returning Officer for the poll while chief justices of all provincial high courts will serve as the presiding officers. A code of conduct has also been issued for the members of both the national and provincial assemblies, who are directed not to carry their mobile phones with them while casting their votes.
Like every political affair, there has been an ongoing controversy over this election as well.
Persistent efforts by the PPP to make the joint opposition parties drop the name of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Fazlur Rehman as candidate for the slot of the president failed as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other opposition parties in the alliance refused to withdraw Rehman’s candidature.
The failure of the opposition parties to field a joint candidate is expected to provide a virtual walkover to Dr Alvi, however, both the opposition alliance and PPP had expressed hope that each would withdraw its candidate in favour of the other.
The first controversy had erupted following the PPP’s refusal to vote for Shehbaz Sharif as a joint opposition candidate for the Prime Minister’s Office despite it earlier agreeing on a formula that had authorised the PML-N to nominate its candidate for the PM’s election.
Later, the PPP ‘unilaterally’ nominated Aitzaz Ahsan as its candidate for the president. PML-N leaders, who claimed that they had come to know about Ahsan’s nomination through the media, stated in categorical terms that the PPP leader’s name could not be considered as the party had not consulted any of the opposition parties before making the decision and also because of his ‘nasty remarks’ over the illness of Nawaz Sharif and his wife.
Under the constitutional provisions, the electoral college for the presidential election includes 1,174 members of National Assembly, Senate and the four provincial assemblies.
Under the procedure, each member of National Assembly and Senate would have one vote while Balochistan Assembly, being the smallest federating unit, would be the precedent for voting for other assemblies. Hence each member of Balochistan Assembly would cast one vote which will add up to 65 votes.
However, Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assemblies would also have 65 votes irrespective of their actual strength. Resultantly, 5.70 members of Punjab Assembly would have one vote, while 2.58 members of Sindh Assembly would have one vote and 1.90 members of KP Assembly would also have one vote.
Therefore, 342 members of the National Assembly, 104 members of Senate and 260 members would have the right to vote for the next president.
Thereby, meaning that the Electoral College for the presidential election would comprise of 706 votes.
In the National Assembly, there are 330 members while by-election for 12 members is going to take place soon.
Out of the sitting 330 members, 176 members belong to PTI and its allied parties while the opposition alliance has 150 members.
The PTI and its allies have 201 votes in both Houses of Parliament, while the opposition has a majority with 218 members.
In Punjab Assembly, PTI and its allied parties have 189 members and after applying the formula, they would have 33 votes. The opposition alliance has 171 members and would have 30 votes as per formula. In Sindh Assembly, the opposition alliance enjoys majority with 98 members. Per formula, they would have 38 votes while the PTI and its allies would have 26 votes.
In KP Assembly, the PTI and its allies have a clear majority with 45 votes. The opposition alliance has 33 members who can cast 18 votes. Similarly, in Balochistan Assembly, the PTI and its allies have 41 votes, whereas Opposition parties have 16 votes.
Hence, the PTI and its allies would have 346 votes while the grand opposition alliance would have 320 votes.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
DR ARIF ALVI:
PM Imran Khan had nominated the name of Dr Arif Alvi as a candidate for the presidential election. Dr Arif is a dentist by profession and is one of the founding members of PTI.
He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. Previously he was a member of the National Assembly from June 2013 to May 2018. He served as the secretary general of PTI from 2006 to 2013. In 2016, he was made the president of PTI Sindh chapter.
AITZAZ AHSAN:
Aitzaz Ahsan was nominated for the president’s slot by party’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari. He is a lawyer by profession. Ahsan was elected to the National Assembly from Lahore in 1988 and served as the interior minister of Pakistan under Benazir Bhutto’s first government and served until 1990.
Ahsan was elected as a member of the Senate in 1994. He re-joined the cabinet after Benazir re-election and went on to serve as the Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights until 1997. He served as the minority leader in the Senate between 1996 and 1999. Ahsan was elected to National Assembly again in 2002 and went on to serve as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association between 2007 and 2008. Ahsan was elected to the Senate in 2012 and in 2015 became the minority leader.
FAZLUR REHMAN:
Rehman previously served as Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. He has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 1988 and May 2018.
Rehman was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in the 2002 general election for the third time on a MMA ticket. Upon winning the election, he became a potential candidate for the post of prime minister of Pakistan, however, he was not appointed.
In May 2014, then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif gave him the status of a federal minister for being the chairman of a special committee of the National Assembly on Kashmir. In August 2017, prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi gave him the same status again. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, he ceased to hold the status of a federal minister.
In March 2018, he became MMA head which was revived in December 2017.
