Asif Ali Zardari (left) and Mahmood Achakzai

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

In a surprise move, the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday fielded Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai as a candidate for the post of president of Pakistan against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supremo Asif Ali Zardari.

Achakzai’s PKMAP has nearly half a dozen votes in the electoral college that will elect the president.

The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) that the PTI lawmakers joined after their election in the Feb.8 parliamentary polls announced the decision, nominating Achakzai as the contender for the coveted constitutional post.

Zardari is the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties that will be part of the coalition set to form a government in the Centre.

Achakzai won the National Assembly seat from the NA-266 Kila Abdullah-cum-Chaman in Balochistan. PTI founder Imran Khan, who is incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, has urged his party’s lawmakers to vote for the veteran politician.

Earlier this week, a PTI delegation, led by Asad Qaiser, met Achakzai and Balochistan National Party (Mengal) chief Akhtar Mengal to seek their support in raising the voice against "rigging” in the general elections held last month. Then Achakzai had extended his party’s support for every political party that works towards the Constitution’s supremacy and empowering the Parliament.

According to a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the presidential will take place on March 9. The nomination papers for the presidential election were submitted on Saturday while their scrutiny will be completed by March 4.

Candidates who wish to withdraw their nomination papers can do so by March 5. The final list of candidates will be published on March 6 after which the polling will take place.

Zardari's nomination papers were submitted by a set of PPP leaders while PTI-backed PTI-SIC stalwarts filed Achakzai’s papers.

On Sept.8, 2023, Dr Arif Alvi became the fourth democratically elected president to complete a five-year term. However, in the absence of the electoral college required to elect the president, he is still in office. Under the law, the president is elected by members of the National Assembly, Senate and four provincial assemblies.

The president holds office for a period of five years from the day he takes charge of office, but he shall remain in office until his successor is elected”. Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa will administer the oath to the new president of Pakistan after the presidential election.