ISLAMABAD: The speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly on Sunday summoned a meeting of the lower house of the parliament on March 9 to elect a new president, an official notification said.
A president in Pakistan is elected through an electorate that comprises legislators from both houses of Pakistan’s parliament, the Senate, and the National Assembly, as well as the country’s four provincial assemblies.
Elected for a five-year term, the president is a ceremonial head of state that has limited powers. The prime minister of the country, who heads the government, has more executive powers to manage the affairs of the country.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of Rule 9 of the Presidential Election Rules, 1988, the Speaker has been pleased to summon the meeting of the members of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in the Parliament House, Islamabad, on Saturday the 9th March, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. for the purpose of election to the office of the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” a notification by the National Assembly Secretariat read.
Backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) coalition, former president Asif Ali Zardari is set to secure another term in office. He will contest the election against Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a veteran politician supported by the Imran Khan-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) party. Achakzai also heads the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).
Zardari, who is also the co-chairman of the PPP, served as president of Pakistan from 2008-2013. The government led by his party from 2008-2013 was the first one to serve a full term.
However, after becoming president in September 2008, Zardari presided over a country gripped with militancy as it underwent a turbulent relationship with Washington. His government also went through an uneasy relationship with Pakistan’s powerful military and had to contend with nationwide flooding in 2010.
Shehbaz Sharif, the coalition’s candidate for prime minister, was elected to office for a second time on Sunday after he secured 201 votes against the SIC-backed Omar Ayub, who polled 92 votes from legislators.
The election on March 9 takes place months after the end of incumbent Pakistani President Arif Alvi’s term as the 13th president of Pakistan. President Alvi’s five-year term ended in September last year, but in Pakistan, a president may continue to stay in office constitutionally until his successor is elected to the presidency.
The PPP and the SIC both submitted nomination papers for Zardari and Achakzai as their candidates on Saturday. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said on Friday that a returning officer, appointed by the ECP, will scrutinize the nomination papers of the candidates’ documents by March 4.
