Bhutto's widower wins Pakistan presidential election

VOTING BEGINS: Posters of presidential candidate Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, in Islamabad. (AFP)

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of Pakistan on Saturday, officials said.

"Asif Ali Zardari secured 281 votes out of the 426 valid votes polled in the parliament," chief election commissioner Qazi Mohammad Farooq said.

Voting was held Saturday in Pakistan's two chambers of parliament and four provincial assemblies.

Zardari secured a thumping majority in three of the four provincial assemblies forming the presidential electoral college, officials said.

In Sindh, his home province, Zardari secured 62 of the 65 electoral votes while his two main rivals, Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui and Mushahid Hussain, failed to get a single vote, they said.

Siddiqui had been fielded by former premier Nawaz Sharif and Hussain is a close aide of Pervez Musharraf, whose resignation on August 18 in the face of impeachment threats triggered the election.

In North West Frontier Province Zardari emerged a clear winner with 56 votes against five secured by Siddiqui and one by Hussain.

And in Baluchistan Zardari bagged 59 votes while Siddiqui and Hussain got two each.

Results from Punjab province, where Sharif commands a majority, were still awaited.

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