ISLAMABAD: Pakistani lawmakers on Tuesday will choose from three candidates when they cast their votes to elect the next president of the country. Voting began at ten in the morning and will continue until four in the afternoon.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) will submit the results to the federal government soon after.
Dr. Arif Alvi, chosen by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, continues to be the top choice. He is up against Pakistan People Party’s (PPP) candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s president Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Rehman was fielded by the opposition parties as their joint candidate.
As opposition parties continue to remain divided, the PTI said it is confident of winning the ticket.
The president will be elected by the Electoral College — comprising the Senate, the national assembly and four provincial assemblies — through a secret ballot.
The Election Commission of Pakistan also issued a code of conduct in this regard. “Election to the office of the president shall be held by secret ballot,” it had said in a statement issued on Monday.
The notification further urged the presiding officer “to ensure that the secrecy of the ballot is not violated through any mode”, banning members of parliament and all provincial assemblies from taking their mobile phones or any other electronic device with them, while casting their votes.
In Pakistan, the president holds a symbolic place — the entire administrative authority lies with the prime minister and the president exercises his powers upon recommendations of the PM.
The elections are in place for a new head of state with President Mamnoon Hussain’s five-year term expiring on September 9.
Voting underway to elect Pakistan’s 13th president
Voting underway to elect Pakistan’s 13th president
- Three candidates running for the top office
- New head of state will be elected through a secret ballot
Pakistan’s Mahnoor Omer named among TIME’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026
- Omer moved a Pakistani court against the so-called ‘period tax’ in Sept. 2025 which has since sparked a national debate
- Taxes on sanitary pads in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to retail price, UNICEF says only around 12 percent women use such products
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani women’s rights activist Mahnoor Omer, who fought against taxes on menstrual products, has been named among the TIME magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’ for 2026.
Omer’s efforts have been recognized alongside 16 activists, artists, athletes and businesswomen in the TIME’s Women of the Year 2026 list, including Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Chloe Zhao.
Dissatisfied with the efforts to educate Pakistani girls about sexual violence, Omer founded the Noor Foundation at the age of 14 and held her own workshops with village girls about everything from climate change to menstruation, according to the TIME magazine.
Two years later, a conversation with a domestic worker about the price of pads made her realize that not everyone could afford these essentials. She moved a court against the so-called “period tax” in Sept. 2025 and the case has sparked a national debate on the subject, considered a taboo by many in Pakistan, since its first hearing late last year.
“A decade and one law degree after her interest in activism was sparked, Omer, now 25, is putting her passion and expertise to work in the name of gender equity,” TIME wrote about Omer on its website.
Taxes imposed on sanitary products in Pakistan can add up to 40 percent to the retail price. UNICEF estimates just 12 percent of women in the country use commercially produced pads or tampons. The alternative, using cloth, risks health impacts including rashes and infections, and can make it impossible for girls to attend school while menstruating.
Omer’s suit, which awaits the government response, has sparked a national discussion. She says she spoke about menstruation to her father and male cousins, who thanked her for standing up for their daughters.
The 25-year-old, who is currently enrolled in a master’s degree in gender, peace, and security at the London School of Economics, sees this case as just the first of many.
“I’m not free until every woman is free,” she was quoted as saying by TIME. “I want to leave no stones unturned in terms of what I can do with the next few decades, as a lawyer for the women in my country and gender minorities in general.”
