President Mamnoon

According to article 41(3) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, the 12th President of Pakistan was to be chosen by 706 lawmakers of the electoral college comprising 104 senators, 342 members of the national and 260 of the four provincial assemblies. For equal representation each provincial assembly is allotted 65 votes irrespective of the number of the MPAs it has which number depends upon its population.  Of these Mamnoon Hussain polled 332 votes which is 47.0255 % and less than half of the electoral college. That means the number of people who have not voted for him is more than those who have voted for him!  As the president is totally neutral and represents each and every Pakistani, should he not enjoy the confidence of the majority of the population? Does it not call for a Run Off re-election like it is done in Iran and even Afghanistan to determine the true and absolute winner?

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)