Presidential poll underway

ISLAMABAD: Polling to elect Pakistan's new president started on Tuesday as lawmakers arrived at their respective Houses. Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim paid a visit to the National Assembly while the poll was underway. Polling process was almost complete in Sindh Assembly where 69 out of 71 had been cast. The two remaining lawmakers, belonging to the MQM and ANP, were abroad and will remain absent from the election proceedings. Similarly 75 votes were cast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly. PML-N candidate Mamnoon Hussain also arrived at the National Assembly premises. Strict security arrangements were in place at the National Assembly, the four provincial assemblies and the Senate. The two contenders for the presidential race are Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) backed Mamnoon Hussain and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI's) Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed. The main opposition party in the National Assembly, the Pakistan Peoples Party, had withdrawn its candidate and announced a boycott of the election over reservations on the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to reschedule the poll. Mamnoon Hussain, a businessman from the southern city of Karachi and close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, appears certain to win the presidential race by a large majority and secure over 400 of the 674 electoral votes. About 148 votes would not be polled due to the boycott by the PPP, ANP, PML-Q, BNP-A and AML. The PML-Q will, however, be voting for the PML-N's candidate in the Balochistan Assembly. Of the 520 votes expected to be polled, Mamnoon will require 263 votes to win – a target his party is now in a position to achieve with its own 281 electoral votes. Interestingly in Sindh, it will be the minority vote that will come into play and decide the winner of this electoral college. The lawmakers will vote with secret ballots at two polling booths from 10am to 3pm. The voters will have to leave their cellphones, cameras etc outside the polling booth. The electoral college The total strength of the presidential electoral college is 1,170, but the total votes are 702 since each provincial assembly is given equal representation in accordance with a formula given in the constitution. According to the formula, as the Balochistan Assembly is the smallest house with 65 members. Votes in the three other provincial assemblies are to be divided by 65: so 5.7 MPAs of Punjab, 2.58 of Sindh and 1.9 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be equivalent to one vote. On the other hand, one-member-one-vote formula is applied in the NA, the Senate and the Balochistan Assembly. Sindh Assembly Interestingly in Sindh, it will be the minority vote that will come into play and decide the winner of this electoral college. The Sindh Assembly has a total of 168 members. At present there are 162 members, constituting 64.8 electoral votes. With 48 members in the provincial legislature, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement is the largest (72 members) opposition group, which is going to vote for the PML-N candidate. The PPP has 35 electoral votes for the presidential election in the Sindh Assembly, the MQM has 18 and the rest of the opposition groups’ lawmakers have 12 electoral votes and the PTI has two votes to support its candidate contesting against Mamnoon. Punjab Assembly The PML-N enjoys an absolute majority in the Punjab Assembly with 302 MPAs in the 354-member house. Thus it is expected to get 53 electoral votes in Punjab while the opposition parties have seven. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly The KP Assembly’s total strength is 124 seats but presently it stands at 120 as four seats are vacant where by-elections will be held on August 22. During voting for the presidential nominees, 1.9 KP Assembly members will have the power of one vote. Balochistan Assembly In Balochistan Assembly, vote of every MPA would be considered a single vote in the presidential election. It is also likely that except for the ANP which is boycotting the presidential election, all other parties in the Balochistan Assembly —PML-N, PML-Q, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMap), National Party (NP), Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam – Fazl (JUI-F) — would vote for Mamnoon Hussain.