ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, Dr Arif Alvi, has been elected as the 13th President of Pakistan, according to unofficial results.
Arif Alvi secured 353 presidential votes, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman received 185 votes, while Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Aitzaz Ahsan received 124 votes.
A total of 424 votes were polled in the presidential election in the National Assembly and Senate. Dr Arif Alvi received 212 votes, while 131 votes were cast in favour Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the candidate backed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), while Aitzaz Ahsan obtained 81 votes.
100 votes were cast in favour of the PPP candidate at the Sindh Assembly, whereas 56 votes were polled to the PTI candidate. Six members of the opposition also voted for Ahsan. Maulana Fazlur Rehman got just one vote while one vote was rejected
In the Balochistan Assembly, Alvi secured 45 votes while Ahsan managed to secure 15 votes.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly where the PTI is in power, its candidate obtained 78 votes while Fazl got 26 votes and the PPP candidate received 5 votes. Two votes were rejected.
Alvi bagged 186 votes in the Punjab Assembly, Fazl 41 and Ahsan 6 votes. As many as 18 votes were rejected.
Alvi thanked PTI chairman Imran Khan for nominating him for the coveted post, and lauded the sacrifices of party workers and activists.
“I am grateful to Allah that the PTI-nominated candidate has been successful in the presidential race on Tuesday,” Alvi said in his victory speech. “I am also thankful to Imran Khan for nominating me for such a huge responsibility.”
He said he was not the president of the PTI but all parties and the entire nation, and vowed to worked hard as per the law and the constitution.
He said there was a difference between security and protocol, and he will maintain protocol to a minimum. He hoped that the “fortunes of the poor” take a turn for the better, and they receive “food, shelter and clothing” and all children go to school.
He further said that he has struggled since the era of Ayub Khan, and will continue to work for the development and prosperity of the nation.
The polling began at the both house of Parliament and four provincial assemblies at 10am and continued without break till 4pm.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari are among those who cast their ballots in the presidential election at the National Assembly.
Two polling booths were set up in the National Assembly as Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Anwar Kasi discharged their responsibilities as returning officer and presiding officer for the presidential election, respectively.
The polling was also held at the Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhhwa and Balochistan assemblies where the chief justices of the respective provinces have been appointed as presiding officers.
The ruling party had pitched Dr Arif Alvi who faced Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, fielded by the opposition parties led by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) presidential candidate Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.
Strict security arrangements were placed at the National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies and the Senate for the occasion.
The president of Pakistan is elected in a secret ballot by the provincial and national assemblies. There are total 706 assembly members who will elect the president. NNI