By KUNA,
Islamabad : Voting began Saturday in the national and provvincial assemblies to elect Pakistan’s new president, a month after former President Pervez Musharraf resigned to avoid impeachment.
Voting began at the National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Southern Sindh province.
The three main candidates of the presidential race are Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP); Justice (retd) Saaeduzzaman Siddiqui, of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif; and Syed Mushahid Hussain, of the pro-Musharraf PML-Q led by Chauhdary Shujjat Hussain.
Zardari is most likely to be the winner of presidential race despite recent foreign media reports about his mental instability and other corruption charges. During Musharraf reign, he spent 11 years in jail for more than six corruption cases.
His decision not to reinstate former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chauhdary, deposed by Musharraf, led to split in the coalition government and Nawaz Sharif announced quitting the federal government last month.