Zardari Elected Pakistan President

Analysts expect that Zardari is not going to have a smooth sailing as the country is grappled with huge political, economic and security crises.

"Mr Asif Ali Zardari has obtained 479 votes out of total 699 cast votes (in the National Assembly, the Senate, and the four provincial assemblies), hence elected as the president," announced Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Farooq.

Zardari, the co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), secured 281 votes out of 436 votes in national assembly and the senate.

In Sindh, his home province, the 53-year-old got 162 out of 163 votes. 

He secured 123 out of 372 votes in Punjab assembly, 110 out of 124 votes in north western frontier province (NWFP), and 62 out of 65 in Balochistan province.

Announcing the vote results, hundreds of supporters gathered outside parliament cheered "Long live Bhutto," and "Zardari is our leader."

Thousands of PPP workers also took to the streets, dancing on drumbeats and shooting into the air in celebration of Zardari's win.

Zardari's closest opponent, Justice rtd Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court and nominee of two-time premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N), secured 153 votes.

Senator Mushahid Hussein, the candidate of pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Q), got only 43 votes.

Siddiqui, however, defeated Zardari in Punjab, the powerbase of Pakistan's politics and the country's richest and most populous province.

Siddiqui won 201 votes in Punjab assembly to 123 votes for Zardari. Mushahid Hussein surprisingly got 36 votes in Punjab, where his PML(Q) has only 85 MPs.

A candidate must get 352 electoral votes to win the presidential elections.

Winner Sharif 

Supporters distribute sweets to celebrate Zardari's election

Analysts believe though Zardari won the presidential vote, his former coalition partner Nawaz Sharif also emerged as winner after he managed to save his Punjab government.

"If Mr Sharif's candidate had lost from Punjab, he would have definitely lost his government there," Mushtaq Minhas, a political analyst, told IslamOnline.net.

"Though, Zardari has won the presidential elections, however, Mr Sharif is not a loser either.

"This is not a good news for Mr Zardari that he has lost in Punjab."

The PML(N) made big election gains in Punjab, the power base of Pakistan's politics and the home province of slain premier Bhutto, in the February general elections.

It won 124 seats in the Punjab's 297-member provincial assembly, securing 62 of the province's 148-seat share in the 272-member National Assembly.

The PPP came second in Punjab, which was always considered as its stronghold and home to more than half of Pakistan's 160 million population.

Minhas believes that Zardari's aides had assured him that he would appear successful in Punjab too.

"But unexpectedly the PML(N) has played very well," he said.

"This is an unexpected result for me as far as Punjab is concerned, because I know that Zardari's aides had used every tactic to woo the Punjab parliamentarians."

The analyst believes that the stage is now set for new confrontation between Zardari and Sharif in Punjab.

"Now, the PPP will have to decide whether it will remain in the coalition government in Punjab or not," he said.

"In my opinion, when the there is no coalition government in the center, then there would be very difficult for both parties to run a coalition in Punjab."

The Punjab senior minister , Raja Riaz, who belongs to the PPP, charges Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab Chief Minister, and younger brother of Nawaz Sharif, for using state machinery to defeat Zardari in the provincial assembly.
"But when we asked Mr Riaz that in which capacity Mr Zardari had been using prime minister house for his election campaign, he had no answer," said Minhas.

Challenges

Analysts expect that Zardari is not going to have a smooth sailing as the country is grappled with huge political, economic and security crises.
"Economy, in my opinion, will be the biggest challenge for the new president," Zubair Khan, a senior economist, told IOL.

"Our economy has never been as worst as it is. But unfortunately, the PPP government has no impressive economic team to cope with this challenge.

Zubair observes that the budget, and current accounts deficit are touching the highest peaks at the moment.

"He (Zardari) has been elected as president amid very high hopes. And I am afraid, these hopes would not be materialized because of the track record of this government, which has miserably failed on all fronts.

"The only hope is that if the government doesn't repeat the past mistakes.

"Instead of so-called economic managers, Mr Zardari should establish a team of competent economists which could help him steer the country out of (the crisis)."

Minhas, the political analyst, agree, saying that the PPP will now have no excuse after Zardari was elected president.

"Zardari is supposed to be the most powerful civilian president. He has all powers which Musharraf had.

"The only difference is that he is not the chief of army staff. Now, the people of Pakistan expect much from him."

He, however, believes that Zardari's election will not bring the country's political to an end.

"Until unless, Mr Zardari doesn't resolve the basic issues, that are reinstatement of judges, and the use of force in tribal areas, there will be no political stability in the country."

"Those, who are misleading him (Zardari) that he can get rid of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudry without any major problem, they are wrong.

"No doubt, he has got the highest number of electoral votes, but he should not forget that it was not a direct election. If there had been a direct election, he would have been in trouble, and the recent surveys prove my contention."