Asif Ali Zardari elected Pakistan’s president again

Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has won a second term as Pakistan’s president, supported by the ruling coalition in a vote by parliament and regional assemblies.

Zardari secured 411 votes, while his opponent, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who is backed by the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, received 181 votes, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced on Saturday after tallying the votes by national MPs, provincial MPs and senators.

The widower of Pakistan’s assassinated first female leader, Benazir Bhutto, Zardari was voted into the largely ceremonial post by the PPP, which formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) party after Pakistan’s February 8 elections that were marred with rigging claims, reports Al Jazeera.

Zardari is expected to be sworn in at a ceremony on Sunday.

Under the terms of the coalition pact, which also includes a number of smaller parties, PMLN’s Shehbaz Sharif was sworn-in as prime minister on Monday last.

Khan was jailed and prohibited from contesting in the election, with his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party targeted by arrests and censorship, and its members forced to stand as independents.

The PTI said a mobile internet blackout on election day and a delay in results were used to cover up nationwide rigging preventing their victory. The elections were also marred with allegations of vote tampering.

The PTI won more seats than any other party last month, but fell far short of the majority needed to govern, which cleared the way for the alliance between PMLN and PPP.

PTI chairman, barrister Gohar Ali Khan, said that Zardari’s election was “unconstitutional”.