Election

• Elected country’s 13th president amid opposition disarray
• Receives 44 more electoral votes than collective haul of Aitzaz, Fazl
• Loses in home province

ISLAMABAD: In an electoral exercise without much suspense, Dr Arif Alvi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was elected 13th president of Pakistan on Tuesday for a five-year term defeating two opponents from a divided opposition.

He will replace President Mamnoon Hussain who is set to complete his term on Sept 9.

Other contestants in the run were the joint opposition’s candidate Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan.

According to unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Arif Alvi secured 353 electoral votes — 44 more than his two rivals could collectively obtain. Maulana Fazl and Mr Ahsan clinched 185 and 124 electoral votes, respectively.

Interestingly, Dr Alvi bagged 212 votes from the Senate and the National Assembly and his rivals also collectively secured exactly the same number of votes from the two houses of parliament. Fazlur Rahman and Aitzaz Ahsan got 131 and 81 votes from parliament, respectively. In all 430 votes were polled by members of parliament, six of which were rejected.

Dr Alvi secured more votes than his opponents in all legislatures, except the provincial assembly of Sindh — the province he belongs to and from where he had contested and won two consecutive elections of the National Assembly.

While Fazlur Rahman and Aitzaz Ahsan could not vote for themselves for not being members of parliament, Dr Alvi cast his vote in the National Assembly. Mr Ahsan watched the election proceedings from the Speaker’s Gallery but Fazlur Rahman was conspicuous by his absence.

The PPP leader secured six more votes than his party’s strength in parliament but Fazlur Rahman clinched 12 votes less than the strength of the joint opposition in parliament, minus the PPP.

In his interaction with the media, Dr Arif Alvi said he would not like to be an “inactive and silent president.”

“The party [PTI] has not sent me for hibernation”, he claimed.

In an echo of the PPP slogan of ‘roti, kapra aur makan’ he hoped that the “fortunes of the poor will take a turn for the better”, and that they would get “food, shelter and clothing” during his term.

“I am grateful to God that the PTI-nominated candidate has been successful in the presidential race today,” Mr Alvi said in his victory speech. “I am also thankful to Imran Khan for nominating me for such a big responsibility.”

Mr Alvi said, “From today I am not just a president that was nominated by the PTI but I am the president of the entire nation and all parties. Each party has an equal right on me,” he added.

The president-elect thanked all those who voted for him in the secret ballot.

He promised to play a “meaningful” role in addressing key issues facing the country, saying “provision of justice and better health services and addressing the issues of unemployment and out of school children would be my top priorities”.

The electoral college for the election of the president comprises the two houses of the parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

The total number of seats in the electoral college comes to 1,174, of which 52 seats are either vacant or results of elections on them have been withheld. Out of the remaining 1,122 eligible voters, as many as 1,110 exercised their right to vote. Of these votes, 27 were rejected by the presiding officers, bringing the total number of valid polled votes to 1,083.

“On the basis of total votes cast in favour of each candidates, the result has been determined in the light of the provisions of paragraph 18 of the Second Schedule of the Constitution, according to which Arifur Rahman Alvi has secured 353 votes, whereas Fazlur Rahman has secured 185 votes and Aitzaz Ahsan has secured 124,” a statement issued by the ECP on behalf of Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza, the returning officer for the presidential polls, reads.

The commission said the official result of the count would be prepared and sent to the government on Wednesday (today) after receipt of original record from the presiding officers.

In his message of felicitation to the newly elected president, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed the hope that, rising above partisan politics, Mr Alvi would act as the head of state and (a) symbol of the federation in accordance with the letter and spirit of the constitution.

In a statement, the PPP leader alleged that as leaders of their party — PTI — both Imran Khan and Arif Alvi had “undermined the parliament and civilian state institutions” and called upon them to publicly distance themselves from past actions that de-legitimised the parliament.

As a first step in legitimising the parliament, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said, a parliamentary committee to investigate issues of severe discrepancies in the 2018 elections should be set up without further delay.

In his felicitation message, former president Asif Ali Zardari said strengthening democracy should be priority of all. He said the office of the president represented all the federating units and stressed the need for adopting democratic norms in politics.

An abnormally high number of rejected votes in Punjab Assembly gave credence to the reports suggesting a silent revolt within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz against naming Fazlur Rahman as candidate for office of the president. Eighteen votes polled in the house were rejected.

In the Balochistan Assembly, 45 votes were polled to Dr Arif Alvi, while Maulana Fazl Rahman bagged the rest of 45 votes. Aitzaz Ahsan could not get a single vote from the province.

Dr Alvi secured 78 out of total 111 polled votes in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

Maulana Fazlur and Aitzaz Ahsan obtained 26 and five votes, respectively. Total 111 MPAs cast their votes while an independent member from Kohat, Amjad Afridi, remained absent.

Mr Afridi, who had been expelled from the PTI, had supported the opposition candidate in the election of leader of the house, last month

Two votes were declared invalid.

Polling was conducted in the assembly hall which was declared a polling station for the presidential election. Lawmakers were not allowed to take their cell phones inside the polling station. Extensive security arrangements were made in and outside the assembly building.

MPAs of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Awami National Party and PML-N gave vote to Maulana Rehman.

Polling is underway at the Parliament House in the capital, and the provincial assemblies in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta for the election of the country’s new president via a secret ballot.

In the running for the post are Dr Arif Alvi of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI); PML-N backed chief of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Fazlur Rehman; and senior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan.

A joint sitting of the Senate and the newly elected national and provincial assemblies — together known as the electoral college of Pakistan — has been called to elect the country’s 13th president.

The voting, which is being held simultaneously at the Parliament House and the four provincial assemblies, started around 10am and will end at 4pm. The NA and Senate members are voting inside the National Assembly hall, whereas the MPAs are doing the same in their respective provincial assemblies.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has barred the members from carrying mobile phones with them at the time of voting.
 

 
Personnel of Rangers and FC have been deployed around the Parliament House and the buildings of the provincial assemblies, which have been declared as polling stations.

While arriving at the parliament for the election, Dr Alvi told reporters that members of all political parties should “vote for the best candidate according to their conscience”.

He said he expects to win a “clear majority” from all legislatures.

With the Constitution requiring the presidential election to be held at least a month prior to the outgoing president’s final day in the office, the exercise taking place today should have been held by August 9, as incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain’s term will expire on September 9.

However, since the electoral college was not complete by the Constitutionally set deadline, the presidential election was subjected to delay.

The exercise today will mark the end of a lengthy poll season that began with the July 25 general elections and was followed by various speaker, deputy speaker, prime and chief ministerial ballots.

Tussle over opposition candidate

After the Election Commission of Pakistan set September 4 as the day of the 2018 presidential elections, four candidates were nominated and had subsequently filed their papers.

While the PTI and its allies have seen their candidates stave off any upsets in all the post-general election polls this summer, its presidential candidate, the PM-nominated Dr Arif Alvi, could have had a tougher task since the PTI does not have a majority in the Senate, whose members are also going to vote today.

Moreover, the presidential election is held via a secret ballot, which keeps the door open for horse-trading.

However, Dr Alvi’s presidency bid was given a huge boost due to disagreements within the opposition camp.

 

The PPP claims it’s “suggestion” to nominate Aitzaz Ahsan as the opposition’s candidate was misconstrued as a finalised nomination, which did not sit well with the PML-N as Ahsan had been a front line critic of the its leadership in the past.

The episode reopened old wounds, and despite efforts to reconcile, a middle ground was not to be reached. PPP o-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari did not budge and stuck with his nomination of Ahsan. Meanwhile, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who had been given the task to mediate between the two parties, ended up garnering the joint opposition’s support for himself; he was nominated by PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif.

A fourth candidate, PML-N’s Ameer Muqam had also filed his nominated papers but withdrew from the race at the eleventh hour, possibly in Rehman’s favour.

How is the president of Pakistan elected?

As mentioned above, the electoral college of Pakistan comprises six leading elected bodies of Pakistan: the Senate, the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.

Of the sextet, the Senate and the NA’s members are given one votes each. However, the four provincial assemblies are assigned an equal weight with the smallest of them all — the Balochistan Assembly — serving as the base.

Read: How PTI is poised to take President House in upcoming election

The Balochistan Assembly has 65 members while the strength of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly is almost double this number, i.e. 124; so the vote of a member of the KP assembly has half the value of the vote of a member of the Balochistan Assembly.

According to the rules, the votes polled by a candidate in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies are multiplied by 65 and divided by the total strength of that house, i.e. 124, 168 and 371, respectively. The values obtained are then rounded off.

ISLAMABAD: Finally, a dream-come-true moment for the overseas Pakistanis aspiring to cast their votes: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will start registering their votes from Saturday and continue it until September 15, a senior ECP official said.

However, this facility would be limited to those expatriates whose votes fall within the 37 constituencies where by-elections are to be held in October. If the pilot project is successful, expatriates would be allowed to cast their votes in the next general election, ECP Secretary Babar Fateh Yaqoob said.

The decision is to be advertised in the mass media and through the country’s diplomatic missions. The pilot project would ascertain the efficacy, secrecy, security and financial feasibility of Internet voting through the upcoming by-elections.

The Supreme Court on August 17 allowed expatriate Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote and issued a detailed ruling in this regard on Tuesday. The procedure, from registration to vote-casting and counting, as well as the criteria for rejecting votes, has also been explained, in light of the recommendations submitted by the ECP and National Database and Registration Authority.

A valid National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP), valid Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and valid e-mail address of an applicant would be required to registered their vote. Applicants would furnish details through the Overseas Voting System on the ECP website to create an account and enter personal details, including: Name, e-mail address, a self-generated password, mobile phone number (optional) and country of stay.

The ECP system would forward the confirmation of an applicant’s account to the given email address, requiring the MRP number and tracking identity, as well as the NICOP number and issuance date. A verification process would follow wherein random questions regarding the applicant’s identity would be asked. A confirmation message would be generated upon successful verification. In the event that an applicant is already registered to vote in Pakistan, their name would be deleted from the electoral rolls.

On polling day, registered overseas Pakistanis would be able to cast their vote during Pakistan Standard Time hours prescribed by the ECP, regardless of their country of residence and the associated time differential. In order to cast their ballot in the applicable national and provincial constituencies, the voter would log into the Overseas Voting System using their unique username and password. The voter would select their desired candidate and upon successful completion would receive an onscreen confirmation message.

As expatriate votes would be cast through the ECP website, the Commission would generate a Form-45 containing the number of overseas ballots in each constituency and send them to the designated returning officer for inclusion in the consolidated results. The ECP would be authorised to exclude votes cast through the Internet where it deems that the technical efficacy, secrecy and security of the process has not been maintained.

Upon the completion of the October by-elections, the ECP would submit a report on the pilot project to the Parliament, as is mandatory under the Election Act 2017. Article 103(1) of this act reads: “The Commission may conduct pilot projects for voting by Overseas Pakistanis in by-elections to ascertain the technical efficacy, secrecy, security and financial feasibility of such voting and shall share the results with the Government, which shall, within fifteen days from the commencement of a session of a House after the receipt of the report, lay the same before both Houses of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).”

The term “pilot project” in the above article was initially interpreted as being applicable to mock voting in a electoral rehearsal. The Supreme Court re-interpreted it to mean a small-scale voting process such as by-elections. There is also a safety clause in article 84-C (2) the Election Act 2017, which empowers the ECP to exclude expatriate votes from the final tally where technical efficacy, secrecy and security of voting has not been maintained.

QUETTA: By-election on two Balochistan Assembly seats will be held on Oct 14.

Officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that some people had acquired nomination papers for the election, but none of them had filed them on Tuesday.

The election for PB-35-Mastung was postponed after Balochistan Awami Party’s candidate Siraj Khan Raisani was killed in a suicide attack during his election campaign in the Dringarh area of Mastung district on July 12.

The tribal jirga headed by Siraj Raisani’s son Jamal Khan Raisani has decided to support former provincial minister Mir Asim Kurd alias Gello in the by-election for the seat. Mr Kurd had contested the elections on national and provincial assemblies’ seats from Kachhi-Bolan area last month, but lost.

The BAP has so far not awarded its tickets for the two vacant seats. It is learnt that Mr Kurd will contest the by-election as an independent candidate.

Former chief minister Aslam Raisani was contesting the election against his younger brother late Siraj Raisani, but so far it is not clear whether he will contest the by-election or not.

The PB-40 Khuzdar seat fell vacant when the successful candidate, Balochistan National Party-M chief Akhtar Mengal, chose to vacate this provincial assembly seat and retain the National Assembly seat. The BNP-M has also not issued its ticket to any candidate for this seat so far.

ISLAMABAD: The ECP has fixed today (Wednesday) to scrutinise nomination papers of proposed/nominated candidates for presidential elections to be held on September 4.

The information was being circulated as a reminder since the Commission had already given the date of scrutiny of nomination papers of proposed candidates at the time of submission of papers for presidential elections, said a press release.

Therefore, the candidates have been asked to come in person at 10 am along with their original CNICs and the cards issued to them by their respective assembly or Senate Secretariat.

ISLAMABAD: Nomination papers for candidates contesting the vacant provincial assemblies and National Assembly seats will be received from Tuesday, August 28 till August 30.

According to the schedule announced by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), by-polls will be held on October 14 across the country for the seats left vacant due to resignations and postponement of the elections, the death of contesting/returned candidates.

An initial list of candidates will be published on August 31. Review of nomination papers filed with the ECP will be conducted till September 4.

The second list of candidates will be issued on September 14 after the review. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until September 15.

The final list of candidates will be published on September 16, complete with their respective electoral symbols.

By-polls are set to take place on 26 provincial assemblies and 11 NA seats lying vacant.

Provincial assembly seats where by-elections will take place include Punjab Assembly seats PP-3, PP-27, PP-87, PP-103, PP-118, PP-164, PP-165, PP-201, PP-222, PP-261, PP-272, PP-292, and PP-296.

In Balochistan, by-elections will be held on PB-35 and PB-40 while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by-elections will be held on PK-3, PK-7, PK-44, PK-53, PK-61, PK-64, PK-78, PK-97, and PK-99.

Sindh assembly seats PS-30 and PS-87 will hold by-elections.

Among the seats where by-elections are to take place are NA-35, NA-53, NA-60, NA-63, NA-65, NA-69, NA-103, NA-124, NA-131 and NA-243.

CHAKWAL: The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced the by-election schedule of NA-65 constituency for which nomination papers can be filed from August 28 to 31 while the polling will be held on October 14.

Veteran politician Ch Shujaat Hussain has been nominated by the PML-Q with the consent of PTI. However, there are some serious concerns and reservations between the PTI and Sardar Ghulam Abbas Group which was instrumental in the party’s win from Chakwal district in the recently-held general elections.

Sardar Ghulam Abbas wanted to contest the by-election on the PTI ticket but seat adjustment by PTI and PML-Q at the highest level showed that PML-Q will nominate its candidate.

Joint opposition has so far failed to bring consensus candidate against Ch Shujaat and there are four most probable candidates Sardar Faiz Tamman, Mansoor Hayat Tamman, Aslam Sethi and Sheharyar Awan who are among the contenders against Ch Shujaat Hussain.

ISLAMABAD:  The federal  cabinet comprising 16 ministers  have taken oath in a ceremony held at the President House Monday.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had Saturday approved a 21-member federal cabinet.

The cabinet members include:

Ministers:-

1. Senator Muhammad Farogh Naseem (Law and Justice)
2. Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema (States and Frontier Regions)
3. Noor ul Haq Qadri (Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony)
4. Dr Shireen M. Mazari (Human Rights)
5. Ghulam Sarwar Khan (Petroleum Division)
6. Zubaida Jalal (Defence Production)
7. Fawad Ahmed (Information and Broadcasting Division)
8. Aamir Mehmood Kiyani (National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination)
9. Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi (Foreign Office)
10. Pervez Khattak (Defence)
11. Asad Umar (Finance, Revenue, and Economic Division)
12. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (Railways)
13. Fehmida Mirza (Inter-Provincial Coordination)
14. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (Information Technology and Telecommunication)
15. Shafqat Mahmood (Federal Education and Professional Training National History and Literary Heritage Division)
16. Khusro Bakhtiar (Water Resources)

Advisors:-

1. Mohammad Shehzad Arbab (Establishment)
2. Abdul Razak Dawood (Commerce, Textile, Industry, Production and Investment)
3. Dr Isharat Hussain (Institutional Reforms and Austerity)
4. Amin Aslam (Climate Change)
5. Zaheer ud din Babar Awan (Parliamentary Affairs)

ISLAMABAD: An upbeat Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday formally assumed the office of the country’s chief executive following an impressive oath-taking ceremony at President House which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including senior PTI members, parliamentarians, services chiefs, diplomats and celebrities.

Clad in a traditional black sherwani, a visibly blushing Imran Khan later reviewed the guard of honour accorded to him at the Prime Minister’s House.

Stars of the ceremony in which President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to Mr Khan were Indian cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and the first lady Bushra Bibi, who was seen sitting in the front row wearing a white abaya (veil) carrying a rosary in her hand. It was her first appearance at a gathering after her marriage with the PTI chief earlier this year.

The first lady received greetings from some of the guests after her arrival at President House, but later she was seen reciting something with her eyes closed.

Mr Khan faced some difficulty in reading out his oath because of some difficult Urdu words and at one stage smilingly said “sorry” when he uttered the word Qayadat (leadership) instead of Qayamat (the day of judgement). And before start of the oath, Mr Khan made everyone curious — as well as amused — when he began to look for his spectacles in a pocket of the shirt that he was wearing under his sherwani.

Three women among 16 ministers, five advisers; opposition stays away from swearing-in ceremony

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No one from the opposition parties attended the ceremony despite the fact that invitations had been extended to a number of party leaders and heads, including PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Prominent among those who attended the oath-taking ceremony were caretaker prime minister Nasirul Mulk, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, former PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Jamhoori Watan Party chief Shahzain Bugti, Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Navy Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, actor Javed Sheikh, singers Salman Ahmed and Abrar-ul-Haq and ex-cricketers Wasim Akram, Rameez Raja, Inzamamul Haq, Javed Miandad and Waqar Younus.

According to a tweet by PTI’s official account, the ceremony’s menu of nine dishes was reduced to refreshments only on Mr Khan’s request as part of his “austerity drive”.

Talking to Dawn, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said PM Khan would address the nation on Sunday (today) in which he would present the future roadmap of his government as well as thank people for reposing confidence in the PTI. Responding to a question, he said Mr Khan was residing in a house at the PM’s Staff Colony.

Later, the PM Office announced the names of 21 cabinet members including many old faces. A number of them had either served in the cabinet during the military rule of Gen Pervez Musharraf or had had association with him in the past.

Of the 16 ministers, seven belong to the coalition parties whose support Mr Khan had secured to win the prime minister’s election with 176 votes. The new cabinet members — 16 federal ministers and five advisers — are expected to take the oath at President House on Monday.

According to the official announcement made by the PM Office, PTI’s vice chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi has been nominated as the country’s new foreign minister, a position where he had previously served during the last PPP government between 2008-13 under the then president Asif Zardari and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Mr Qureshi had resigned from the cabinet after developing differences with the party leadership during a reshuffle in the cabinet.

Mr Qureshi had also once served as provincial finance minister in the cabinet of Nawaz Sharif when he was the chief minister of the Punjab during the military rule of Gen Ziaul Haq.

With no surprise, Asad Umar has been made minister for finance and revenue whereas the portfolio of the information and broadcasting has been allocated to PTI’s information secretary Fawad Chaudhry. Mr Chaudhry had also previously served as spokesman for Gen Musharraf’s All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML) and remained part of the media team of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari before joining the PTI.

Ghulam Sarwar Khan, who defeated PML-N’s estranged leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in the July 25 elections in two constituencies, has been allocated the portfolio of petroleum ministry. Mr Nisar had also served as petroleum minister in the first two governments of Nawaz Sharif.

Dr Shireen Mazari has been given the portfolio of human rights, whereas former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervez Khattak will be the country’s new defence minister.

Former PTI information secretary Shafqat Mehmood has been given the portfolio of federal education and professional training with the additional charge of national history and literary heritage division. Having Masters’ degree from Harvard University, Mr Mehmood had served as senator in the 1990s. He also served as Punjab information minister in the PML-N government in 1999.

Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiyar, who had previously served as minister of state for foreign affairs during the military regime of Gen Musharraf, has been made the minister for water resources.

Mr Khan appointed PTI MNA from Rawalpindi Aamir Mehmood Kiyani as minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.

Among those who have been given representation in the federal cabinet for being leaders of the PTI’s allies are Senator Farogh Naseem of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (law and justice); Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema of the PML-Q (states and frontier regions); Zubaida Jalal of the Balochistan Awami Party (defence production); Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (railways); Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of the MQM-P (information technology and telecommunication); Dr Fehmida Mirza of the Grand Democratic Alliance (inter-provincial coordination) and an independent MNA from Fata Noorul Haq Qadri (religious affairs and interfaith harmony).

Senator Naseem, who had served as the youngest advocate general of Sindh, also represented former military ruler Gen Musharraf in a court hearing the high treason case under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Zubaida Jalal, too, was an active member of the cabinet as education minister during the regime of Gen Musharraf.

AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has managed to get back the portfolio of railways, the position he had previously enjoyed during the rule of Gen Musharraf. Previously, he had served as a cabinet member under former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Dr Fehmida Mirza, who had enjoyed the honour of the first woman speaker of the National Assembly during the PPP government from 2008 to 2013, contested the July 25 elections from the platform of the GDA after her spouse Dr Zulfiqar Mirza had developed differences with the government.

Advisers

Those who have been appointed as advisers to the prime minister are former law minister in the PPP government Babar Awan (parliamentary affairs); former KP chief secretary Shehzad Arbab (establishment division); former minister in the regime of Gen Musharraf Abdul Razzak Dawood (commerce, textile, industry & production and investment); Dr Ishrat Husain (institutional reforms and austerity) who had served as State Bank governor during the military rule of Gen Musharraf and another former minister of state in the Gen Musharraf regime Amin Aslam (climate change).

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced that the by-elections to be held on National Assembly (NA) and provincial assemblies seats will be held on October 14.

Returning officers (ROs) of the constituencies concerned will publish public notices pertaining to the matter, according to the schedule issued by the commission.

Moreover, nomination papers for the by-elections can be submitted from August 28 to August 30.

The initial list of candidates will be published on August 31.

Furthermore, the electoral body will complete review of the nomination papers by September 4.

Following the review, another list of candidates will be published on September 14 and candidates will be allowed to withdraw their candidatures by September 15.

The final list of candidates will be issued by the ECP on September 16.

Moreover, the final list will also include the candidates’ respective electoral symbols for the by-elections.

The by-elections are set to take place on 30 seats, out of which 11 are NA seats and 19 are provincial assemblies seats.

The NA constituencies include NA-35, NA-53, NA-60, NA-63, NA-65, NA-69, NA-103, NA-124, NA-131 and NA-243.

Earlier on Thursday, the ECP had announced that the election for the office of president will take place on September 4.

LAHORE: In a landmark development on Friday overseas Pakistanis were given the right to vote for the first time.

The Election Commission of Pakistan informed the Supreme Court that the electoral body has developed a mechanism with  the help from National Database Registration Authority (Nadra).

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar congratulated the Pakistanis living abroad and remarked that their right to vote has been accepted and now they can exercise their right to franchise.

The CJP thanked the ECP and Nadra for the system and directed the officials to make a comprehensive plan for its use under the law.

A three-member bench was hearing case pertaining to extending the right to overseas Pakistanis.

Election Commission Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad told the apex court on previous hearing that an operational plan of E-voting was completed in collaboration with Nadra. Justice Ijazul Ahsan observed that Article 94 of Election Act was mentioned in the operational plan which is uncertain at right to vote.

Babar Yaqoob said E-voting will be conducted on experimental basis in the upcoming bye-elections while the results would be furnished before the Parliament. The Parliament in the light of experience will ascertain future of E-voting. Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that whether the votes through E-voting could be kept separate from the other votes.

Meanwhile, Attorney General said the court order was regarding law of electoral list but it was removed in the Election Act. Babar Yaqoob said that right of oversees Pakistanis to exercise right of vote was discussed in the parliamentary committee whereas the opinion was different. He said bye-elections were to be held on 27 constituencies.

The chief justice remarked that all the constituencies should experience E-voting and no constituency will witness discrimination. Justice Ijazul Ahsan said it would be easy to identify fake votes.

The chief justice observed that results in all four provinces will be apparent and if there would be any mistake in E-voting then the votes will be discarded. If the E-voting system not gets hacked then votes of oversees Pakistanis will be included in the results.

“We don’t want any confusion and ruin the bye-elections as it cost millions in each constituency,” he added. Meanwhile, PTI’s counsel Anwar Masood Khan argued that the ECP has the right to formulate code of conduct in the light of Constitution. The ECP has the right to publish the rolls. It also reserves right to give decisions on complaints.

ISLAMABAD: Newly-elected National Assembly will meet today (Friday)to elect new prime minister of Pakistan.

Imran Khan, 65, Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif have filed nominations for the top slot of the leader of the house, which were  accepted for the election.

Having  majority in National Assembly with 175 seats, cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan  in comfortable position to become premier after a rift emerged in the grand opposition alliance over the candidature of PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, PPP has decided to abstain from voting in either candidate’s favour; while  PML-N warns of exacting revenge by replacing PPP’s Sherry Rehman as Senate Opposition leader.

With the loss of the PPP’s 54 seats, Shehbaz will now face an almost impossible task to be elected as prime minister. The PML-N has 81 seats in the National Assembly.

On the other hand, The PTI, which emerged as the leading party in the July 25 general election, has 151 seats, and with the support of its allies, the total stands at 175 which is more than the required simple majority.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has summoned  the parliament session at 3:30pm today to elect the new prime minister. The voting will be held in open through division of members in different galleries designated for different candidates.

Other political parties included; The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) with three members, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) with seven members, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) with five members, Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) with four members, three lawmakers of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), and one member each from the Awami Muslim League (AML) and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) are reportedly supporting the PTI.

On Wednesday, PTI leader Asad Qaiser bagged 176 votes in the election for National Assembly speaker. While, the PML-N is the second largest party in the assembly with 81 members, followed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with 54 lawmakers.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) nominee, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of the PML-Q on Wednesday was sworn in as the Speaker for the Punjab Assembly.

Elahi gained 201 votes while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Chaudhry Iqbal Gujjar received 147 in the secret balloting process. A total of 349 votes were cast among which one was rejected.

Outgoing speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal administered oath to new speaker who will supervise the election of the deputy speaker for the assembly.

Pandemonium broke out as the second session of Punjab Assembly commenced. Two more MPAs-elect, Malik Muhammad Waheed and Muhammad Khan Leghari, were administered oath taking the total number of members to 355. However; four MPAs are still to be sworn in. The speaker showed the balloting place to the members and switched off the CCTV cameras installed there. He also barred the MPAs from taking mobiles inside the booth.

Ruckus was created thrice during the session of the assembly. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) expressed grave concerns over the polling process. Khawaja Saad Rafique maintained that fool-proof arrangements have not been made.

The members of the assembly created a ruckus while chanting slogans against each other. As the speaker failed to maintain order in the House, he read out the election order in the persisting situation.

During the voting process, PTI’s Sadqa Sahab Dad Khan revealed her vote triggering protest from PML-N members in front of speaker’s dais. Her vote was ultimately cancelled by the speaker.

Meanwhile, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday elected Mehmood Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf as chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Mehmood Khan got 77 votes against Mian Nisar Gul of Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) who could secure only 33 votes.

Holding the portfolio of sports, culture and irrigation in the previous PTI led KP government, Mehmood Khan’s name was put forward by former CM Pervez Khattak. In fact he was the choice of Khattak group for the post against the name of Atif Khan, another senior PTI leader who was considered the first choice for the post and is close aid of party chief Imran Khan.

KARACHI: Syed Murad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Mahmood Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were elected chief ministers of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, respectively, with big margins on Thursday.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi — a joint nominee of the PTI and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid — and Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) comfortably won the election for the posts of speaker of Punjab and Balochistan assemblies, respectively.

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani declared Mr Shah winner over his rival Shaharyar Mahar — a candidate fielded by the combined opposition — after conclusion of the election held by applying division of the house method.

Mr Shah secured 97 out of 158 votes polled. Mr Mahar, who belongs to the Grand Democratic Alliance, bagged 61 votes.

Protest over ‘horse trading’ in Punjab PA as Pervaiz Elahi wins speaker’s post by receiving votes from PML-N members

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Two members of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan opted to abstain while the third, along with the only member of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), did not turn up during the voting.

Mr Shah became the province’s 28th elected chief minister and 35th overall, including seven individuals who had been given the post as caretakers since the late 1980s. He will take the oath as chief minister on Saturday.

In Peshawar, Mahmood Khan defeated joint opposition candidate Mian Nisar Gul who belongs to the MMA. Mr Khan secured 77 votes while Mr Gul received 33 votes.

The PTI, which swept the July 25 general elections in KP, had already grabbed the slots of speaker and deputy speaker of the provincial assembly on Wednesday.

Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra will administer the oath to the new chief minister on Friday.

A graduate from Agriculture University, Peshawar, Mahmood Khan is the first chief minister from tax-free Malakand division. He belongs to Swat district. He held the portfolio of tourism, sports, irrigation and home in the previous PTI-led government.

In his speech, the chief minister-elect said that eradication of corruption, improvement of transparency and de-politicisation of institutions would be his government’s top priorities.

Joint opposition parties, including the MMA and Awami National Party, assured the new government in KP their support.

In Lahore, Pervaiz Elahi took the oath as speaker of the Punjab Assembly amid a noisy protest and “horse-trading” slogans by the PML-N legislators.

 

More than 15 PML-N MPAs appear to have ditched their party’s candidate Chaudhry Iqbal Gujjar and voted for Mr Elahi.

PTI’s Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari was elected deputy speaker by obtaining 187 votes. The PML-N’s Waris Kallu could get 159 votes.

Of the 349 votes polled, Pervaiz Elahi bagged 201 while Chaudhry Iqbal Gujjar secured 147 votes.

One PTI vote was cancelled as the party’s senior leader Sadiqa Sahibdad Khan showed the vote to her colleague before putting it in the ballot box.

A PPP MPA cast the vote for Mr Elahi as the latter persuaded the former. However, the remaining six PPP members abstained themselves from the exercise.

In the deputy speaker election, PPP’s seven candidates abstained themselves from voting. Two votes were rejected.

Following the speaker’s election, the PML-N threatened to boycott the deputy speaker’s election to protest horse-trading. It agreed to contest the election after a meeting with a PTI delegation.

In Quetta, Abdul Quddus Bizenjo secured 39 of the total 59 votes polled. Haji Nawaz Kakar — a nominee of the joint opposition for the post of speaker — bagged 20 votes. None of the votes were rejected.

Outgoing speaker Rahila Durrani administered the oath to Mr Bizenjo.

PTI’s Sardar Babar Khan Musakhel was elected deputy speaker of the Balochistan Assembly. He secured 36 of the 58 votes cast, while his opponent — BNP’s Ahmed Nawaz — received 21 votes. One vote was rejected.

Mr Musakhel was a joint candidate of BAP, PTI, Awami National Party, Hazara Democratic Party, BNP-Awami and Jamhoori Watan Party.

QUETTA: Balochistan Awami Party leader Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has been elected Speaker Balochistan Assembly, Geo News reported.

Bizenjo bagged 39 votes against Muhammad Nawaz, who secured only 20 votes.

Muhammad Nawaz was jointly fielded by Muttahida Majlis Amal and Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal).

Previously Bizenjo has served as the 16th Chief Minister of Balochistan from 13 January 2018 to 7 June 2018.

He was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan from November 2002 to May 2018. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan from 2013 to 2015 and remained the member of the provincial cabinet between 2002 and 2013, as the minister of livestock.

PTI’s Sardar Babar Musa Khel has been elected as the Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly by clear majority.