India-born Mamnoon Hussain elected as Pakistan's 12th President
Islamabad: India-born Mamnoon Hussain, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was on Tuesday elected as the 12th President of Pakistan and will replace incumbent Asif Ali Zardari in September.
Hussain emerged as a clear winner in the one-sided contest with ex-judge Wajihuddin Ahmad of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, state media reported.
Pakistan People's Party withdrew its candidate Raza Rabbani and boycotted the election in protest to the date of polls being changed. The polling started at 10.00 AM amidst tight security arrangements.
Born in the historic city of Agra, Hussain, who belongs to an Urdu-speaking ethnic group that migrated from India during partition in 1947, was the candidate of ruling PML-N government.Over 1,000 members of the national parliament and four provincial assemblies cast their ballots to elect largely ceremonial head of the state.
The office of the president is ceremonial in Pakistan but he is still the constitutional chief of the armed forces but cannot order deployments. He also appoints the services chiefs at the recommendation of the prime minister.
Pakistan so far had 11 presidents, out of which five were military generals. Four of them seized powers through coups, whereas first president Major Sikandar Mirza was elected in 1956 after the first constitution was adopted.
The office of the president is ceremonial in Pakistan but he is still the constitutional chief of the armed forces but cannot order deployments. He also appoints the services chiefs at the recommendation of the prime minister.
Pakistan so far had 11 presidents, out of which five were military generals. Four of them seized powers through coups, whereas first president Major Sikandar Mirza was elected in 1956 after the first constitution was adopted.
Former Sindh governor and an alumnus of the Institute of Business Administration, from where he graduated in 1965, Hussain is an old loyalist of Nawaz Sharif and remained with the PML-N during the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
He served as the governor of Sindh from June to October 1999 and lost the post after the then army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf toppled the PML-N government in a military coup in Oct 1999.
"Describing the office of president as the symbol of federation, the presidential candidate pledged to serve the country and its people in his capacity as president," a statement issued by Sharif's office said.
Post new comment