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Mamnoon Hussain elected President of Pakistan

30 July 2013 15:48 (UTC +04:00)

Hussain, 73, will be sworn in on Sept 9 at the presidency due to be vacated by incumbent Asif Ali Zardari, who is stepping down at the end of his five-year term.

Hussain, who will be president for five years, resigned his membership of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) soon after the election results were announced, in what is seen as a symbolic move to establish himself as a non-partisan president.

Hussain has been an active member of the PML-N since the 1960s. He was governor of Sindh from June to October 1999 when Sharif's government was overthrown by the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf.

According to the unofficial results, 277 votes were cast from the Senate and National Assembly in favour of Hussain, the candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N).

Mamnoon required 263 votes to win, a target his party was in a position to comfortably achieve.

34 votes were polled in favour of Justice Retd Wajihuddin Ahmed, while three votes were rejected by polling staff.