Pakistan: Polling for Presidential elections underway

Islamabad, March 9 (IANS) Polling to elect 14 president of Pakistan is underway at Sindh provincial Assembly on Saturday.

The polling which began at 10 a.m. will conclude at 4 p.m, Dawn news reported.

For the office of President, Asif Ali Zardari, the joint candidate of PPP and the PML-N, and Sunni Ittehad Council's candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai are in the fray.

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is the husband of slain Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto and father of former Foreign Affairs Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The President is elected by an electoral college which comprises of members of the Senate, the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies.

Voting is being held through a secret ballot while Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is acting as presiding officer for the elections.

A joint session of the parliament is being held at the parliament house where the members of National Assembly and the Senate are exercising their right to vote.

Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had assured PML(N) parliamentarians that his father Asif Ali Zardari, who is set to become the President, will take care of Punjab lawmakers as he takes of him.