Lahore, Sept 28 : Bookmakers in Pakistan have declared General Pervez Musharraf the favourite candidate to win the forthcoming presidential election.

Karachi bookmakers have kept the odds of five to one on Musharraf, while odds of one to 40 on two other candidates Amin Fahim and Wajeehuddin Ahmad.

The Daily Times quoted a Geo TV report as saying that after cricket, bookmakers have now received bets worth billions of rupees on who would be the next President and what crucial decisions would be taken in the near future.

Musharraf’s nomination papers for the October 6 election were filed yesterday by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

An electoral college made up of members of the National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies will vote for a President before the assemblies are dissolved for a general election due by mid-January. It is likely that Musharraf would secure a two-thirds majority in the Punjab Assembly in the election.

The Electoral College — comprising the National Assembly, the Senate and four provincial assemblies — has a total membership of 1,162, which translates via a pre-determined formula into 702 votes for the presidential election.

The Punjab Assembly, the biggest among the provincial assemblies, has 371 seats: 270 belong to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), 59 to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), 33 to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and nine to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

If the PML-N and MMA resign from the assemblies, as announced by the All Pakistan Democratic Movement (APDM), and the PPP abstains from voting, ruling party candidate Musharraf would get a minimum of 47 votes from the Punjab Assembly, the highest number from any of the provincial assemblies. (With inputs from ANI)