Pakistan Peoples Party's co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has won a second term as Pakistan's president, supported by the ruling coalition in a vote by parliament and regional assemblies. Zardari is elected as the 14th president of Pakistan after the conclusion of the polling process for the Presidential election here in Islamabad on Saturday. Zardari managed to secure a majority vote to become president of Pakistan for a second time. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Zardari secured 411 total electoral votes while the opposition supported candidate, Mahmood Khan Achakzai secured 181 electoral votes. Members of the Senate and National Assembly cast their votes at Parliament House Islamabad while members of all four provincial assemblies voted at their respective Houses. The elected president bagged 255 votes in the Senate and National Assembly while securing majority votes in all provinces except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to get elected for next five years. Achakzai was among the first to congratulate the newly elected President. Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif too congratulated Zardari on his election. He said that Zardari will be a symbol of strength of the federation. In a message, Sharif said the Senate, National Assembly and elected members of the four provincial assemblies have expressed their confidence in Zardari. He hoped that as president of Pakistan, Zardari will fulfill constitutional responsibilities in an efficient manner, adding that coalition parties will work together for development and prosperity of Pakistan. 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 Feb. 8 elections. 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 Sharif was sworn-in as prime minister earlier this week on Monday. Zardari, 68, previously took the presidential office post in 2008 after a sympathy vote following the gun and bomb assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto when she was campaigning for re-election. While president, a role which he held until 2013, he rolled back the powers of the presidency. During his tenure, he faced challenges ranging from threats from the Taliban, to tense relations with the military. — Agencies
