Presidential elections were held on 30 July 2013 in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

to elect the 12th President of Pakistan. Incumbent President

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

’s term was scheduled to expire on 8 September 2013; and as such, Article 41 of the Constitution of Pakistan required the elections to be held no later than 8 August 2013. The

Electoral College of Pakistan The President of Pakistan is chosen by an electoral college ( ur, ), in Pakistan. According to Article 41(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan, this electoral college consists of the Senate, the National Assembly of Pakistan, and the Provincial As ...

– a joint sitting of the Senate,

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

and Provincial Assemblies – were tasked with electing a new president to succeed President Zardari, who declined to seek a second term in office. After the Pakistan Peoples Party and its allies boycotted the presidential election, the two candidates were

Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...

backed by the Pakistan Muslim League (N), and

Wajihuddin Ahmed Wajihuddin Ahmed ( ur, ; born 1 December 1938) is a retired senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, human rights activist, and former professor of law at the Sindh Muslim Law College. Prior to be elevated as Senior Justice of the ...

backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...

-born Hussain was elected president by a majority securing 432 votes. The elections were the first time in Pakistani history where a civilian president was elected while an incumbent civilian President was still in office, completing a historic and democratic transition of power that began with the 2013 General Elections.

Background

Following the 2013 general elections, it was expected that the new president would be chosen by the party that won a plurality and thus headed by Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

, the Pakistan Muslim League (N). It is the first time in the country that a president elect has been chosen in the presence of a sitting president.

Schedule

The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the initial election schedule on 17 July 2013. All nomination papers for candidates had to be submitted by 24 July, with scrutiny occurring on 26 July. Candidates then had an additional 3 days to withdraw their nomination, after which the official candidate list was announced. The elections were originally to take place via secret ballot on 6 August, and official results confirmed the next day. The elections would be presided by the Chief Justices of the Islamabad High Court and the 4 provincial High Courts. The

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

on 24 July, revised the date for the presidential election on the appeal of the ruling party,

PML (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Part ...

, asking the election commission to hold it on 30 July instead of 6 August. The court made the order as many of the lawmakers who will elect a replacement for President Asif Ali Zardari will be paying pilgrimages or offering special prayers on 6 August for the holy month of Ramadan, which ends a few days later, thus making it potentially difficult for some lawmakers to oblige with their religious duties along with the election. The petition was filed by the leader of the house in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq on the same day. The court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to change the election schedule on the appeal of the Federal government: nomination papers were filed on 24 July, their scrutiny was held on 26 July, the withdrawal of candidature up to 12 noon on 27 July and the final list of candidates was published at 5pm on 27 July. The polling was held on 30 July.

Candidates

The

nominated former Sindh Governor

as its candidate; while the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

nominated Senator Raza Rabbani (later boycotting); and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf named Justice

Mamnoon Hussain

Hussain is an Agra-born business man. He belongs to Sindh and owns a textile business in Karachi. He was born in Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1940. He started his political career in the 60s as a Muslim Leaguer. He is considered loyal to the former Prime Minister

. In 1999, he was elected as the president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) and was soon selected by Nawaz Sharif to become governor of Sindh in June 1999, but lost the post after the then Army Chief Gen

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

overthrew the PML-N government in a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

in October 1999.

Wajiuddin Ahmed

Ahmed is a retired senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan,

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

activist,

Jurist Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

and former professor of law at the

Sindh Muslim Law College The Sindh Muslim Government Law College (Urdu: سنده مسلم گورنمنٹس لا کالج) or S. M. Law College (Urdu: ایس ایم لاء کالج) is one of the oldest law schools of Pakistan, situated in Karachi, Sindh. The college has ...

. Prior to be elevated as Senior Justice of the Supreme Court, he briefly tenured as the Chief Justice of the

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in ...

from 1998 until refusing take

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

in opposition to

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

in 1999. He remained a strong critic of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, eventually taking up a leading role in

Lawyer's movement The Lawyers' Movement, also known as the Movement for the Restoration of Judiciary or the Black Coat Protests, was the popular mass protest movement initiated by the lawyers of Pakistan in response to the former president and army chief Pervez Mus ...

in 2007 to oppose President Musharraf. Ultimately, he unsuccessfully ran for the

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

held in 2007. Since 2011, he has been active in national politicsthrough Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and became a forerunner on PTI platform for the presidential election.

Boycotts

On 26 July, the PPP announced its decision to boycott the election. The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Balochistan National Party (BNP) also announced a boycott. They cited as their reason the

's decision to change the election date from 6 August without consulting all parties.

Electoral College Strength

The

is formed by a joint sitting of the six leading political bodies in Pakistan: * the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper house, upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly (Pakistan), National As ...

, * the National Assembly of Pakistan, * the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, * the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, * the

Provincial Assembly of Balochistan The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Balochistan, and is located in Quetta, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of ...

and * the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Paktunkhwa So that each province has an equal vote, all provincial assemblies are given exactly 65 votes in the electoral college. This mean that the each member of the Punjab Assembly has 65/370 = 0.176 votes, each member of the Sindh Assembly has 65/168 = 0.387 votes, each member of the KPK Assembly has 65/124 = 0.524 votes and each member of the Balochistan Assembly has 65/65 = 1 vote. The political composition of these bodies is as follows:

Polls

The country went to the polls at 10:00, 30 July amidst tight security arrangements. Over 1,174 members of the electoral college cast their votes to elect the ceremonial head of the state.

Results

Polling was held simultaneously in the Parliament and provincial assemblies. The legislative assemblies were pronounced polling stations at the outset of polling. Voting ended at 15:00 and after 5 hours the preliminary result was immediately released. Official confirmation of the winner came in the evening. Mamnoon Hussain will be sworn in as the 12th president of Pakistan on 9 September, a day after the incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari completes his five-year term. , - !colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" , Candidate ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" , Main supporting party ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Senate ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ,

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Sindh ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" ,

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , KP ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" , Total , - , style="background-color:#228b22;" , , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:left;" , Pakistan Muslim League (N) , style="text-align:right;" colspan=2, 277 , style="text-align:right;" , 54.14 , style="text-align:right;" , 24.76 , style="text-align:right;" , 55 , style="text-align:right;" , 21.49 , style="text-align:right;" , 432 , - , style="background-color:#e51616;" , , , style="text-align:left;" ,

, style="text-align:left;" , Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf , style="text-align:right;" colspan=2, 34 , style="text-align:right;" , 4 , style="text-align:right;" , 1.9 , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 36.17 , style="text-align:right;" , 77 , - , colspan=10 style="text-align:left;" , Source
The News
Mamnoon Hussain was widely expected to be victorious. He got 277 votes from the Parliament, 54.14 from the Punjab Assembly, 24.76 from Sindh Assembly, 21.49 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 55 from the Balochistan Assembly. On the other hand, Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed got 34 votes from Parliament, 4 from Punjab Assembly, 1.9 from Sindh Assembly, 36.17 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and one vote from Balochistan Assembly.

Implications

The elections were boycotted by some parties, and some protests were held too. But overall, the elections completed safe and sound. They marked a historic and democratic transition of power. This was the first time in the history of Pakistan a democratically elected civilian president had completed his full five-year term and transitioned power to a new civilian president.

References

{{Pakistani presidential elections

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2013 elections in Pakistan