Elections for the 14th President of Pakistan
Indirect Presidential elections were held in Pakistan on 9 March 2024 to select the 14th President of Pakistan, who is the country's head of state. Asif Ali Zardari of the PPP was elected as President, defeating Mahmood Khan Achakzai of the PTI-backed alliance Outgoing President Arif Alvi was eligible for re-election but did not contest for a second term.
Background.
Since the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies were dissolved before the presidential election could take place, the election was conducted after general elections to all five assemblies, which were held on 8 February 2024. Therefore, the presidential election was held on 9 March 2024, as it needed to be held within thirty days of the elections to the assemblies, according to the proviso of Article 41(5) of the Constitution of Pakistan. Moreover, according to the proviso of Article 44(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan, Alvi continued to hold office until his successor would be elected. 
Campaign.
Asif Ali Zardari had previously served as president from 2008 to 2013 and his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was aligned with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance. The centre-left PPP had achieved a majority of votes in Sindh and Balochistan, but this was not enough to gain the presidency. Zardari was only able to gain a majority of votes in parliament and Punjab because of the support given by the PPP's partners in the PDM alliance and in the coalition government formed after the 2024 general election, including the PML-N, MQM-P, PML-Q, IPP, NP, and BAP. These parties, mainly the PML-N, held a majority of seats in the national and provincial assemblies, although these national assembly seats were contested for rigging.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s campaign was heavily reliant on the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP)’s alliance partners, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seat holders registered under the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC). Achakzai was a regionalist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but won votes nationwide due to PTI-(SIC). Achakzai was supposedly nominated for the presidency by the PTI after he held a popular speech in the National Assembly, demanding that the constitution be respected, parliament be empowered and more importantly to remove the military establishment from Pakistani politics, which was supported by the PTI-(SIC).
Schedule.
The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the initial election schedule on 1 March 2024. Polling was conducted in the following five places on 9 March 2024:
Members of the Senate and National Assembly cast their votes at Parliament House whereas members of Provincial Assemblies cast their votes at respective assemblies.
Electoral system.
The president of Pakistan is indirectly elected by the Electoral College of Pakistan – a joint sitting of the Senate, National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies.
The votes of the members of the Senate and National Assembly are counted as single votes. Meanwhile, the votes given by the provincial assembly legislators are adjusted to give each province an equal share in the election. This is because each provincial assembly has a varying number of members, depending on population size. The largest province by population size, Punjab, has a total of 371 members in its assembly, whereas the smallest province of Balochistan has only 65 members in its legislature. Therefore, the provincial votes are weighted against the Balochistan assembly in the following manner:
Regarding timing, the constitution states that election to the office of President must be held no earlier than sixty days and no later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of the incumbent president. If assemblies are not present, the constitution allows the election of the president to be delayed thirty days after the general election.
The electoral process itself is done via a secret ballot due to the post of the president being constitutionally non-partisan. Therefore, unlike during the election of the Prime Minister, cross-party voting is not liable to be considered defection.
Electoral College.
The Electoral College of Pakistan is formed by a joint sitting of the six following leading political bodies in Pakistan:
The maximum strength of the Electoral College is 696. However, considering the vacant seats, the electoral college for this presidential election stood at 679. A simple majority is required in a two-candidate contest to claim victory. But in a three-candidate race, the victory requirement goes down considerably depending on how the votes are split.
Candidates.
On 15 December 2023, Faisal Karim Kundi, the spokesperson of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), announced that former President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the party's president, would be their presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. The Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)) also announced its support for Zardari's candidacy. Moreover, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM–P), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Awami National Party (ANP), and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) also announced their support for Zardari.
On 2 March 2024, the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council nominated Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), as their presidential candidate.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) and Jamat-e-Islami boycotted the election.
Results.
Asif Ali Zardari won the election by getting 411 electoral votes.
Reactions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Zardari on his victory and said that he would be “a symbol of the strength of the federation.” Mahmood Khan Achakzai also congratulated Zardari, adding that his election was held in a free and fair manner.
PTI chair Gohar Ali Khan called Zardari's election "unconstitutional".
References.
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