Since the National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies were dissolved before the presidential election could take place, the election was conducted after general elections to all five assemblies, which were held on 8 February 2024.[4] Therefore, the presidential election was held on 9 March 2024, as it needed to be held within thirty days of the elections to the assemblies, according to the proviso of Article 41(5) of the Constitution of Pakistan. Moreover, according to the proviso of Article 44(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan, Alvi continued to hold office until his successor would be elected.[citation needed]
Campaign
Asif Ali Zardari had previously served as president from 2008 to 2013 and his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) was aligned with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance.[5] The centre-left PPP had achieved a majority of votes in Sindh and Balochistan, but this was not enough to gain the presidency.[6] Zardari was only able to gain a majority of votes in parliament and Punjab because of the support given by the PPP's partners in the PDM alliance and in the coalition government formed after the 2024 general election, including the PML-N, MQM-P, PML-Q, IPP, NP, and BAP.[2] These parties, mainly the PML-N, held a majority of seats in the national and provincial assemblies, although these national assembly seats were contested for rigging.[7][8][9]
The Election Commission of Pakistan announced the initial election schedule on 1 March 2024. Polling was conducted in the following five places on 9 March 2024:
Members of the Senate and National Assembly cast their votes at Parliament House whereas members of Provincial Assemblies cast their votes at respective assemblies.
The votes of the members of the Senate and National Assembly are counted as single votes. Meanwhile, the votes given by the provincial assembly legislators are adjusted to give each province an equal share in the election. This is because each provincial assembly has a varying number of members, depending on population size. The largest province by population size, Punjab, has a total of 371 members in its assembly, whereas the smallest province of Balochistan has only 65 members in its legislature. Therefore, the provincial votes are weighted against the Balochistan assembly in the following manner:[12]
Regarding timing, the constitution states that election to the office of President must be held no earlier than sixty days and no later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of the incumbent president. If assemblies are not present, the constitution allows the election of the president to be delayed thirty days after the general election.[citation needed]
The electoral process itself is done via a secret ballot due to the post of the president being constitutionally non-partisan. Therefore, unlike during the election of the Prime Minister, cross-party voting is not liable to be considered defection.[citation needed]
The maximum strength of the Electoral College is 696. However, considering the vacant seats, the electoral college for this presidential election stood at 679. A simple majority is required in a two-candidate contest to claim victory. But in a three-candidate race, the victory requirement goes down considerably depending on how the votes are split.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Zardari on his victory and said that he would be “a symbol of the strength of the federation.” Mahmood Khan Achakzai also congratulated Zardari, adding that his election was held in a free and fair manner.[22]
PTI chair Gohar Ali Khan called Zardari's election "unconstitutional".[23]