Presidential poll: PTI-backed SIC fields Mahmood Khan Achakzai against Asif Zardari

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Saturday named Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai as their presidential nominee, ARY News reported.

The SIC has nominated Achakzai as the contender for the coveted constitutional post against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Asif Ali Zardari will be presidential candidate of coalition partners including the PML-N, People’s Party and other allies.

Farooq Naek had obtained nomination form for the presidential election yesterday.

It is to be mentioned here that the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court has been nominated presiding officer for presidential election in the Senate and the National Assembly.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced the schedule for the presidential elections.

According to the ECP schedule, polling for the presidential election will be held on March 9 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The nomination papers can be submitted till 12:00 noon on March 2 (today).

The Returning Officer (RO) will scrutinize the nomination papers on March 4 at 10:00 am whereas the final list of candidates for the presidential elections will be displayed on March 5:00 at 1:00 pm.

The PPP and the PML-N were agreed over the name of Asif Zardari to be elected as head of the state during their power-sharing dialogue.

Electoral College

The electoral college for indirect presidential election comprises of the members of the Senate, National Assembly and four provincial assemblies.

In the election, the Senate and National Assembly’s members votes are counted as single votes.

The votes cast by the provincial assembly legislators are adjusted so as to give each province an equal share in the election. Therefore, each provincial assembly has 65 votes equivalent to the strength of Balochistan Assembly, which has minimum number of members.

The weightage of the total members of other provincial legislatures will be decided according to fixed number of 65.