Islamabad : March 9,2024: Pakistan People Party (PPP) supremo , Asif Zardari , won the presidential election here on Saturday with a big margin to his opponent , Mahmood Khan Achakzai , to become head of Pakistan state for the second time. Asif Ali Zardari was a joint candidate of the ruling alliance including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) , Pakistan People Party (PPP) , Awami National Party (ANP) , Mutiheda Quami Movement (MQM) and Balochistan Awami Party , got 411 electoral votes to defeat Mahmood Khan Achakzai who was a joint candidate of the opposition and he got 181 votes .
Mahmood Khan Achakzai told the reporters after the election that he did not get even a single vote from his own province –Balochistan . A good thing of the presidential election is that the losing candidate –Mahmood Khan Achakzai –not only accepted the result of the presidential election , but also conceded that Saturday’s presidential election was free of horse-trading . He told the media persons that there was not a single vote sold or purchased in Saturday’s presidential election. With conceding defeat in Saturday’s election , Mahmood Khan Achakzai proved that he is a great politician and man of honour who stands for principles in the game of politics in Pakistan .
Such show of politics was non existent in Pakistan in the past. Outgoing president Dr Arif Alvi , had quit the presidency ahead of coming in of his successor . He left behind bad precedents . As head of the state , Dr Arif Alvi , approved dissolution of the national assembly in 2022 when a no confidence move was already on the table. Dr Arif Alvi ‘s action was a clear abrogation of the constitution . In no way , a president having even small understanding of the constitution could approve dissolution of the national assembly when no confidence move against PTI government was on the table. Similarly , Dr Arif Alvi preferred to act as a PTI worker than the president in many occasions which weakened the parliament, besides making the presidency controversial. Despite leaving behind a plethora of bad precedents as president of Pakistan , Dr Arif Alvi was accorded warm farewell. He was given guard of honour. Meanwhile , the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had turned down a request of Mahmood Khan Achakzai , one of two presidential candidates , and decided for holding presidential election as per schedule on March 9 , 2024 (Saturday). Ex president , Asif Zardari , was a favourite for the president . He was a joint candidate of the ruling alliance which has numerical edge over opposition ‘s candidate –Mahmood Khan Achakzai. Ahead of presidential election , Islamabad administration had issued special security arrangements in the federal capital to ensure security to the parliamentarians during the presidential election.
