ISLAMABAD, (DNA) –  Pakistan Peoples’ Party presidential candidate, Aitzaz Ahsan has submitted nomination papers Monday at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Flanked by senior leaders of the party including Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar and Khursheed Shah, Ahsan filed his papers in the Islamabad High Court on Monday, brushing aside the grievances expressed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz on his nomination.

Talking to newsmen, Ahsan expressed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would benefit if opposition fields two candidates for the slot of the president.

The PPP candidate said he was unaware about the objection raised by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz about his candidacy adding that the reservation shown by Pervaiz Rasheed was his personal opinion, not shared by the party.

The opposition parties brainstormed for days to pitch a joint candidate against PTI’s Arif Alvi for presidential elections, however, the deliberations did not bear fruit.

The grand alliance of opposition parties met in Murree on Saturday to reach a consensus on a joint candidate for president. PPP rejected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s objections over Ahsan and decided to stick to its choice of candidate for the post.

On the other hand, the Shehbaz Sharif-led PML-N proposed the name of former premier Yousaf Raza Gillani to confront Arif Alvi.

Today marks the deadline for candidates to submit their nomination papers for the upcoming presidential election.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked candidates to file their nomination papers with presiding officers in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta till 12 noon.

The chief election commissioner will conduct scrutiny of the nomination papers in Islamabad on Wednesday at 10 am.

Candidates will have until Thursday, August 30 to withdraw their nomination papers, after which the final list will be made public on the same day.

The president is elected by an electoral college comprising members of the Senate, National Assembly, and the four provincial assemblies.

The voting is held through a secret ballot and looking at the numbers game, PTI is in a comfortable position to elect Arif Alvi as the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, replacing Mamnon Hussain who is completing his term on September 9th.