Credibility of poll not affected by boycott: CEC

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim has said the boycott of presidential election by some parties had not affected its credibility. Announcing the official result of the election at a news conference, he said no one could be forced to participate in the electoral process. He said the total number of votes was 1,174, out of which 50 seats were vacant in the Senate and the national and provincial assemblies. The remaining 1,124 lawmakers were to exercise their right to vote. According to the results of the count received from all presiding officers, 887 lawmakers cast their votes. Nine have been declared invalid by respective presiding officers, bringing the number of valid votes to 878. The CEC said on the basis of total valid votes in favour of each candidate, the result had been determined in the light of the provisions of the Second Schedule of constitution. According to which, PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain secured 432 votes and PTI candidate retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed 77 votes. As a result, the CEC formally announced, Mamnoon Hussain had been declared returned elected to the office of the president of Pakistan. He said the official result was being forwarded to the federal government through secretary of cabinet for the issuance of notification. He said out of the existing 427 members of the parliament, 314 cast their votes and 277 of these were secured by Mr Hussain while Mr Ahmed bagged 34 votes. Three votes were declared invalid. Out of 352 members of the Punjab Assembly, 338 cast votes. Three were rejected. Under the procedure laid down in the Second Schedule of constitution, these constituted 59.22 electoral votes of which Mr Hussain secured 54.14 votes and Mr Ahmed 4.03 votes. Out of the existing 163 members of the Sindh Assembly, only 69 took part in the electoral process. Out of the total 26.70 electoral votes, Mr Hussain got 24.76 votes and Mr Ahmed 1.93 votes. Out of existing 62 members of the Balochistan Assembly, 56 cast their votes. Mr Hussain got 55 votes and Mr Ahmed one vote. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was the only house where the PTI candidate got more votes than the PML-N candidate. Out of 120 members of the assembly, 110 cast their votes. According to the formula, the figure was equal to 57.66 electoral votes. Justice Ahmed secured 36.17 votes and Mr Hussain 21.49 votes. The turnout remained over 78 per cent. In the 2008 presidential election, President Asif Ali Zardari secured 481 of the total 678 valid electoral votes. His opponents retired Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui of PML-N and Mushahid Hussain of PML-Q bagged 153 and 44 votes, respectively. In the 1997 presidential election, former president Rafiq Tarar of PML-N secured 374 of the 457 electoral votes. His opponents Aftab Shabaan Mirani of PPP and Maulana Mohammad Khan Shirani of JUI-F bagged 31 and 22 votes, respectively.