ASIATODAY.ID, ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani parliament elected Asif Ali Zardari, as the 14th president of Pakistan, on Saturday, March 9 2024.
Asif Ali Zardari is the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who twice served as prime minister of Pakistan – and is the candidate of the ruling coalition.
Zardari defeated Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a veteran politician from the southwestern province of Balochistan who was also the candidate of the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council.
The council is a religious political group and is the new shelter for members of parliament from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of Imran Khan – the jailed former prime minister.
Several small political parties, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e–Islami, boycotted the election and no MPs from those parties voted.
Voting began at 10:00 am local time at the National Assembly building in Islamabad as well as in the four provincial capitals, and continued until 4:00 pm.
Zardari became the only politician elected to the country’s highest but symbolic constitutional post for a second term.
He previously served as president from 2008-2013 during the government of his own party. (AT Network)
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