By Xinhua,
Islamabad : The Pakistani legislators started to vote for the next president on Saturday to fill the slot left by former President Pervez Musharraf.
The polling will continue from 10 a.m. (1600 GMT) till 3 p.m. (2100 GMT) without any break at a joint session of National Assembly and Senate in Islamabad and the four provincial assemblies.
In the parliament house of Islamabad, the National Assembly members will begin to cast votes after the Senate. Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra cast the first vote for the new presidency.
The voting is by secret ballot, and the candidate getting the simple majority will be country’s next president.
The unofficial result of the presidential election will be announced soon after the counting is complete, the Pakistani state television said.
Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Butt, is expected to win the presidential race as he has support of majority.
Zardari, also co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will compete with former Chief Justice Saeed-uz-zaman Siddiqui and Senator Mushahid Hussain in the election.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nominated Siddiqui as candidate while Mushahid was from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid(PML-Q).