ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued the final result of Saturday’s presidential election, declaring Asif Ali Zardari as the country’s 14th elected president.
According to ARY News, the final result of the election of Pakistan’s president was released by the Election Commission on Saturday۔
As a result, released by the Chief Election Commissioner, Asif Ali Zardari, a joint candidate of the government alliance was successful with 411 electoral votes, while Mahmood Khan Achkzai of the Sunny Alliance Council secured 181 votes۔
The Election Commission of Pakistan released the final result on Form 7 and as a result, the total number of votes cast in the presidential election was 1044, of which 9 votes were rejected and 1035 votes were declared correct۔
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has forwarded the final result of the presidential election to the federal government۔
The president-elect is set to take the oath of his office today for the second time.
Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his election as the 14th president of Pakistan.
In his message, Xi Jinping said China and Pakistan are good neighbors, good friends, good partners and good brothers.
He said the two countries have achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and maintained a high level of development of bilateral relations.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on Friday demanded general amnesty for political prisoners including incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder, ARY News reported.
“I was first to demand the release of the PTI chairman, now everyone should be pardoned after general elections,” Mushahid Hussain Syed said while speaking on the floor of the Senate of Pakistan.
The PML-N lawmaker said he also demanded the release of Nawaz Sharif during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf rule and now demanding pardon for everyone including the PTI founder.
He said SIC should be allocated reserved seats in the assemblies.
Commenting on the missing persons, Mushahid Hussain Syed said more than 500 MQM-P missing workers have been recovered only 13 are missing. He said the report on the Balochistan missing persons was presented to the committee.
The former prime minister is currently serving his jail terms in cipher, toshakhana and an ‘un-Islamic’ marriage case in the Adiala Jail.
Earlier after the election results, Mushahid Hussain Syed said PTI had emerged as the largest political party in the election.
“Nawaz Sharif should show magnanimity and extend his hand.”
“The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf should also be included in the system”. He must visit the PTI’s founder”, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senator advised his party leadership.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Senator Ishaq Dar on Thursday assured to undertake all diplomatic efforts for the repatriation of incarcerated Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui from the United States.
In 2003, Siddiqui was wanted by the FBI for questioning for possible ties to al-Qaeda and was detained by Pakistani authorities, according to US media reports at the time.
US officials alleged that when the Afghan police captured Siddiqui in July 2008, she was carrying two pounds (900 grams) of sodium cyanide, which releases a highly toxic gas, notes that referred to a mass casualty attack, and a list of US landmarks.
Responding to the points of Mushtaq Ahmad in the Senate today, Ishaq Dar said it will be the priority agenda of the government after cabinet formation to engage the United States on the matter.
The leader of the house in the Senate pointed out that in the past also, the PML-N had made immense efforts for the repatriation of the daughter of the nation, Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
It is to be noted that Fowzia Siddiqui met her sister in May, earlier in 2023, for the first time after 20 years of imprisonment in the United States.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) five-member bench rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea, seeking the allocation of reserved seats with a split verdict of 4-1 as its member from Punjab Babar Hassan Bharwana wrote a dissenting note.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), and ECP members from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan rejected the plea while its member from Punjab Babar Hassan Bharwana partially agreed with the decision.
In his dissenting note, Babar Hassan Bharwana maintained, “I agreed to this extent that the Sunni Union Council failed to submit a priority list for reserved seats for women and minorities on time,”
However, he was of the view that these reserved seats could not be allotted to other parties. He maintained that the reserved seats should be kept vacant until the amendment in Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution 1973.
Babar Hassan Bharwana said in the dissenting note that “submitting the priority list on time was a legal requirement which was not done by the Sunni Ittehad Council but these seats cannot be distributed to other parties based on proportional representation.”
Earlier in the day, the ECP rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s petition, seeking the allocation of reserved seats following a ‘merger’ with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for this specific purpose.
The ECP was requested to allot the seats based on the inclusion of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-)-backed candidates in their party. In this regard, a request drafted by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza was submitted to the electoral watchdog through a PTI representative
After hearing arguments from all sides, the commission had reserved its verdict on Wednesday, a day before the maiden session of the National Assembly.
The electoral watchdog, in its decision today, PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council was not eligible for the reserved seats allotted to women and minorities.
The ECP announced the split decision with a 4-1 majority under Clause 6 of Article 53 of the Constitution and Section 104 of the Election Act. ECP Punjab member Hassan Bharwana dissented with the majority verdict
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday rejected the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) petition, seeking the allocation of reserved seats following a ‘merger’ with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for this specific purpose, ARY News reported.
The ECP was requested to allot the seats on the basis of the inclusion of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidates in their party. In this regard, a request drafted by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza was submitted with the electoral watchdog through a PTI representative.
After hearing arguments from all sides, the commission had reserved its verdict on Wednesday, a day before the maiden session of the National Assembly.
The electoral watchdog, in its decision today, PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council was not eligible for the reserved seats allotted to women and minorities.
The ECP announced the split decision with a 4-1 majority under Clause 6 of Article 53 of the Constitution and Section 104 of the Election Act. ECP Punjab member Hassan Bharwana dissented with the majority verdict.
In the verdict, the ECP said the SIC is not entitled to claim quota for reserved seats due to having “non curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats which is the requirement of law”.
“The seats in the National Assembly shall not remain vacant and will be allotted by proportional representation process of political parties on the basis of seats won by political parties,” the order said.
Citing Article 51(6) of the Constitution, the electoral watchdog said the reserved seats would be allocated to the political parties who contested elections and won general seats on the basis of “proportional representation system”.
It stated that per centum share of each political party shall be worked out with reference to total number of general seats in the National Assembly and the provincial assembly. “The same formula is provided for the reserved seats for non-Muslims.”
PTI candidates contested the elections as independents after the Supreme Court upheld the election supervisor’s decision, considering its intra-party polls “unconstitutional” and revoked its claim on the electoral symbol of ‘bat’.
As per the Constitution, the reserved seats are allocated to the political parties on the basis of the number of their lawmakers elected on the general seats. For their allocation, the ECP had already received the priority list of candidates from the parties before the Feb 8 polls.
The situation this year is different from the previous elections as the largest group of lawmakers are independents, who cannot have the reserved seats.
There are a total of 346 reserved seats for women – 60 in the NA and 66, 29, 26, and 11 in the provincial legislatures of Punjab, Sindh, K-P, and Balochistan.
Similarly, there are 10 reserved seats for minorities in the lower house. Besides, there are eight, nine and three reserved seats for minorities in the Punjab Sindh, and Balochistan assemblies.
Sunni Itthead Council, in its letter, stated that 86 independent candidates of the National Assembly had joined his party, adding that 107 independents of Punjab Assembly, 90 of K-P Assembly and nine independent members of Sindh Assembly now garnered the support of the SIC.
ISLAMABAD: Senator Bahramand Tangi on Monday withdrew a resolution seeking ban on social media from the upper house of the Parliament.
The Senate session met with the deputy chairman in the chair. After criticism, Senator Bahramand Tangi withdrew his resolution seeking a ban on social media to “save the young generation from their negative and devastating effects”.
Senator Tangi said the tabling a resolution on any matter is the right of the members of the upper house of the Parliament, however, he is withdrawing the resolution.
At this juncture, the opposition tried to comment on the issue, but the deputy chairman denied the permission by saying the resolution was withdrawn, hence, no discussion could be held on it.
Earlier, the Senator, in his resolution, expressed concern over the use of such platforms against the “interests of the country through negative and malicious propaganda against the armed forces of Pakistan”.
He observed that such platforms were being used by vested interests for spreading fake news about various issues and try to create and promote fake leadership in the country to hoodwink the young generation.
“The Senate of Pakistan, therefore, recommends to the Government to put a ban on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter (X) and Youtube to save the young generation from their negative and devastating effects,” it concluded
ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman told Leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and other allies in the center that his party will not take part in the formation of government, ARY News reported citing sources.
According to sources, the inside story of Fazlur Rehman’s meeting with PPP, PML-N revealed that the delegation insisted on the JUI-F chief’s support for National Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker slots however he refused to take part in the formation of government.
Sources said that the delegation will hold another meeting with Maulana Fazl today in parliament house. However, he will soon leave for Sindh to head the protests against the alleged rigging.
Yesterday, a high-level delegation of PML-N, PPP, and other allies met Maulana Fazalur Rehman ahead of the inaugural session of the National Assembly.
PML-N’s Ayaz Sadiq, Saad Rafique and Ahsan Iqbal, PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Syed Naveed Qamar, Abdul Aleem Khan of the Istehkam-e-Paksitan Party (IPP) and Khalid Magsi of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) among the leaders who reached Fazalur Rehman’s residence.
PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq who has also been nominated for the National Assembly speaker’s slot said that they had a very ‘good’ conversation with the JUI-F chief.
“We met Maulana Sahib and requested for a vote,” Ayaz Sadiq added.
However, Maulana Fazalur Rehman expressed some concerns, asserting to address the same in the coming days.
It is important to mention here that the PML-N nominated Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for the National Assembly (NA) speaker’s slot.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) plea seeking reserved seats in the assemblies, ARY News reported.
A five-member bench of the ECP headed by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the plea.
Barrister Ali Zafar in his arguments before the electoral body said PTI-backed independent candidates joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) after winning the elections. It is our right to have reserved seats in the assembly, he added.
Zafar said PTI submitted a list of the reserved seats but after losing the party symbol, the candidates contested elections as independent candidates.
After joining SIC, we forwarded the request for the reserved seats, he added. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Azam Nazir Tarar opposed the allocation of the seats to SIC by saying that the party did not take part in the elections.
SIC said it is not contesting the February 8 elections in response to the ECP’s letter regarding the code of conduct before the polls, Tarar said.
According to Section 104 of the Election Act, reserved seats would be granted to a party contesting the general elections.
How can reserved seats be allocated to SIC, when it was rejected by the masses, he asked.
JUI-F’s Kamran Murtaza also opposed the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council before ECP. He said SIC did not submit any list for the reserved seats now the list cannot be entertained.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday opposed granting reserve seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
According to details, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) heard the pleas regarding the inclusion of independent members in the Sunni Ittehad Council and the allocation of reserved seats.
A five-member bench of the ECP headed by CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the plea. Barrister Gohar Ali, Farogh Naseem, Azam Nazir Tarar, and Ata Tarar, appeared before the electoral body.
Political parties opposed granting reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council, citing the party did not win a single seat and got the members after PTI-backed independent candidates joined the party.
Farooq H. Naek said it should be clarified first whether the Sunni Ittehad Council has the right to special seats or not, to which Azam Nazir Tarar responded by suggesting giving the seats to other parties including PML-N.
PTI’s counsel, Barrister Ali Zafar stated that it cannot be allowed for anyone to challenge the request from outside. First, decide who the pleader is and why he has come to challenge.
Azam Nazir Tarar argued that the Sunni Ittehad Council did not provide a priority list, so what would happen to those who submitted the request first?
The Election Commission consolidated all requests against the Sunni Ittehad Council and adjourned the hearing until a later date.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday convened an important meeting to decide on the reserved National Assembly seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), ARY News reported.
According to details, the meeting scheduled to meet with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in the chair, will overview the Sunni Ittehad Council’s petition for the reserved NA seats.
The meeting will also be attended by all four provincial members of the commission including, the secretary, special secretary and officers of the law wing.
The ECP was requested to allot the seats based on the inclusion of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed candidates in their party. In this regard, a request drafted by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza was submitted to the electoral watchdog through a PTI representative.
Earlier this month, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced that party-backed independent candidates — who emerged victorious in the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the 2024 general elections — would join Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) as part of their parliamentary strategy.
Following the announcement, the candidate’s national and provincial assembly lawmakers submitted affidavits, officially announcing their affiliation with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in line with the party’s decision.
