ISLAMABAD: Polling is under way at the Parliament and four provincial assemblies to elect the 13th president of Pakistan.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has officially nominated Arif Alvi, while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has named Aitzaz Ahsan as its presidential candidate.
The third contender, Maulana Fazl ur Rehman, is the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Party.
Ahsan and Fazl cannot cast votes for themselves as the PPP leader is not a member of the Senate while the JUI-F chief is neither an MNA nor an MPA. Alvi is the only presidential candidate who can cast vote for himself.
Polling under way
Polling for the presidential election commenced at 10am and will continue until 4pm.
Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court is presiding over the election in the Parliament and lawmakers have started casting their votes through secret ballot.
Punjab Assembly
Chief Justice of Lahore High Court Justice Yawar Ali is presiding over the polling process while election commissioner Punjab, Zafar Iqbal Hussain, is performing duties as returning officer.
PTI’s Abdul Aleem Khan was the first to cast his vote in the Punjab Assembly.
A total of 354 MPAs of Punjab Assembly can cast their votes, for whom two polling booths have been setup.
Sindh Assembly
In Sindh, 163 members of the provincial assembly out of 168 will cast their vote for presidential election.
Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh is performing the duty of presiding officer.
KP Assembly
Polling for the presidential election is also underway in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly
A total of 112 MPAs will cast their votes in the presidential election.
PTI has 79 members in the KP assembly while the joint opposition has 27, PPP five and PML-Q has one.
Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth is supervising the election.
Balochistan Assembly
Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar is acting as presiding officer.
It is a must for lawmakers to bring their assembly cards, in order to cast their vote. Further, mobile phones are not allowed in the assemblies.
