Asif Ali Zardari to be New Pakistan President, Announces PM Sharif

New Delhi: Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, announced that Asif Ali Zardari is set to become the next president of the country, emphasising 'strong coordination' between them. Furthermore, reports from local media indicate that all allies within the ruling coalition, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), have pledged their support for Zardari in the upcoming presidential election, slated for March 9.  

Zardari would be elected president for a second term, which would be a record for any civilian leader. He also served as president from 2008 to 2013.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi was presented with a farewell guard of honour on Friday as he made way for the new president. Alvi, a senior leader of Khan's PTI, was elected in September 2018 for five years and his term had already expired but he, as per law, continued until the election of the new president.

On the other hand, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the candidate backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan demanded the postponement of elections on the plea that the electoral college was incomplete.

The election is scheduled to be held on Saturday and Achakzai has the support of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Khan.

Achakzai, who is also the head of his Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), sent a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), highlighting that there were some reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies which were vacant as no one was elected to them.

“If the presidential election is conducted as per the schedule that would be a denial of their votes, which otherwise is against the fundamental rights, law and Constitution,” he stated.

The letter pointed out that the completion of the electoral college was not possible unless members of the reserved seats were elected, and demanded that the presidential elections be delayed or postponed until the completion of the process.

However, the ECP has already allotted all reserved seats to different parties after rejecting a plea by the Sunni Ittehad Council for its share of the reserved seats after PTI-backed independently elected members joined it.

According to the ECP, the polling would begin in the parliament and provincial assemblies’ buildings from 10 am to 4 pm without any break.