Zardari Asends to Presidency

Zardari was challenged by Justice (Retired) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, (a former judge nominated by Nawaz Sharif's PML-N) and Mushahid Hussain Sayed (nominated by the PML-Q, which backed Musharraf.) .

The margins of his victory give a way to hope. The Chief election commissioner of Pakistan, Qazi Mohammad Farooq announced, "Asif Ali Zardari secured 281 votes out of the 426 valid votes polled in the parliament" which is a 'fair' victory. Overall, Zardari won 481 votes, far more than the 352 votes that would have guaranteed him victory.

( A brief look into Election Process:

According to the Constitution of 1973
presently in vogue (but declared for major amendments by Zardari) the President of Pakistan, who must be a Muslim and a male, is elected by an electoral college composed of members of the two houses of parliament - the 342 seat lower house National Assembly and the 100 member upper house Senate, as well as members of the four provincial assemblies - Sindh, Punjab, North West Frontier Province and Balochistan.

The assemblies have total of 1170 seats, but the number of electoral college votes is 702 since provincial assembly votes are counted on a proportional basis. The new president, who obtains the largest number of votes, would serve for five years as Pakistan's President. )

Let's see how Zardari has won it in the Provinces:

Zardari won a clear majority in three of the four provinces.

In Sindh, the home province of Zardari, he won 62 out of total 65 votes while his opponents could not even make a mark.

In North West Frontier Province , out of total 62 votes, Zardari got 56.

In Balochistan, out of 63 , he got 59

However, in Punjab, the nation's biggest province, Zardar could not get a majority, which is quite obvious.

In Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan has got a new President. But what novelty he can bring to this troubled country is still a question.