Pak presidential polls to take place on Sep 4

Pakistan's presidential election is slated to take place on September 4, the country's electoral body announced on Thursday.

Incumbent Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain's five-year term is due to end on September 9.

Hussain is from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party and took office in 2013, as the country's 12th President, Geo News reported.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that the candidates could file their nomination papers for the polls to the presiding officers situated in Islamabad and in the four provinces of the country by August 27.

The scrutinising of the nomination papers will take place on August 29. Those wishing to drop out from the presidential election can withdraw their candidature by August 30 (12 pm - local time), following which the final list of the candidates would be published by 1 pm (local time) on the same day.

On September 4, the newly-elected legislators would exercise their franchise in the National Assembly, the lower house of the Pakistan Parliament and the four provincial assemblies (Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) from 10 am to 4 pm (local times) respectively.

The Pakistani President is elected indirectly by the members of the Parliament and the four provincial assemblies.

Pakistan recently held the general elections to the NA on July 25, during which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats. The PML-N which won 64 seats came second, while the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) bagged 43 seats and finished third.

--ANI