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| Pakistan politicians voting to elect new president | Pakistan politicians voting to elect new president |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Pakistani lawmakers are voting to elect a new president to replace Asif Ali Zardari. | Pakistani lawmakers are voting to elect a new president to replace Asif Ali Zardari. |
| The candidate of the ruling PML-N, former Sindh province governor Mamnoon Hussain, is expected to win. | The candidate of the ruling PML-N, former Sindh province governor Mamnoon Hussain, is expected to win. |
| He faces a challenge from Wajihuddin Ahmad of the PTI. The main opposition PPP boycotted the poll in protest at the date of the vote being changed. | |
| Pakistan's largely ceremonial president is elected by members of parliament and the four provincial assemblies. | Pakistan's largely ceremonial president is elected by members of parliament and the four provincial assemblies. |
| Correspondents say Mr Hussain's victory is all but assured and is expected to be confirmed imminently, after voting began on Tuesday morning. | |
| In a general election in May, the PML-N of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won majorities in the National Assembly and the assembly of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. | In a general election in May, the PML-N of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won majorities in the National Assembly and the assembly of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province. |
| Mr Zardari's five-year term ends on 8 September. He replaced former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and agreed to constitutional amendments that handed many of the president's powers to the prime minister in 2010. | Mr Zardari's five-year term ends on 8 September. He replaced former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and agreed to constitutional amendments that handed many of the president's powers to the prime minister in 2010. |
| Mr Zardari's main achievement is seen as having presided over Pakistan's first civilian government to serve a full term. | Mr Zardari's main achievement is seen as having presided over Pakistan's first civilian government to serve a full term. |
| But his time in office was dogged by confrontation with the military and judiciary. His government did little to address mounting economic problems and the country remains beset by a Taliban insurgency. | But his time in office was dogged by confrontation with the military and judiciary. His government did little to address mounting economic problems and the country remains beset by a Taliban insurgency. |
| The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said last week that it was boycotting the elections because it had not been given enough time to campaign. | |
| The Supreme Court had brought the vote forward from 6 August to 30 July. | |
| Ruling party members had complained the first date clashed with the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. | |
| The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that because the outcome of the election is pretty much a foregone conclusion - added to the fact that the incumbent has little or no real power - it has failed to capture the imagination of the Pakistani public. |