Voting underway to elect Pakistan’s 13th president

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.