Presidential race begins

ISLAMABAD - PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Justice (r) Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui and Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed were amongst over 30 candidates who filed their nomination papers with the Chief Election Commissioner Tuesday to contest September 6 presidential election.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, PPP filed papers for Asif Zardari while the former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui filed papers as candidate nominated by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Mushahid Hussain filed nomination papers as the nominee of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid).

Sources said Makhdoom Amin Fahim, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, Rehmatullah Kakar, Shahid Hassan Bugti, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and Shahbaz Bhatti filed fourteen nomination papers on behalf of Asif Zardari. The PPP also submitted nomination papers of Faryal Talpur as covering candidate.

Similarly, PML-N leaders including Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Saad Rafiq and Ahsan Iqbal filed nomination papers of Justice Siddiqui. The former bureaucrat Roedad Khan filed his papers as PML-N’s covering candidate.

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Kamil Ali Agha filed papers for party’s nominee Mushahid Hussain.

Four independent candidates who filed papers include Mehar Mohammad Ramzan, Manzoor Ahmed Bhatti, Rao Javed Ali Khan, Ms Kasam Saba and Waheed Kamal.

“We are pretty confident of our victory as the Party believes it has support of the required number of parliamentarians,” Information Minister Sherry Rehman revealed to the reporters shortly after the nomination papers of Asif Zardari were filed.