Imran Khan’s PTI suffers bypolls setback, PML-N wins four seats
ISLAMABAD : The opposition party Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) put up a tough fight against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in by-elections to federal and provincial assembly seats, registering some surprise wins in Punjab province.
Most of the seats had been vacated by politicians elected on more than one seat in the July 25 general election, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, who won all five constituencies he had contested. The ruling party maintained its slim majority in Parliament after the Sunday bypolls, with final results showing the PTI had won 15 of the total 36 seats.
The PTI’s ally, the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam), won two seats, bringing the coalition’s total in the National Assembly to 177 out of 342.
The main opposition PML-N increased its seat count in the lower house of Parliament to 85. The outcome is expected to reinvigorate the opposition parties.
According to unofficial results from more than 90% of polling stations, the PTI faced a setback by losing two of four seats vacated by Khan to the right-wing Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the PML-N. Besides, the PTI was also losing its Punjab assembly seat, vacated by federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry.
The results showed the PTI and PML-N won four seats each out of 11 National Assembly seats. The PML-Q managed to retain its two seats in Punjab province and snatch two seats from the PTI at Lahore and Attock in Punjab, while the MMA improved its strength in the Lower House of Parliament by winning a seat in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
PTI leaders told the media that the main reason for the party’s failure to achieve a clear majority was the absence of senior leaders, including Khan, in the campaign.
Chaudhry said the top leadership didn’t run the campaign due to a bar imposed by the Election Commission. He said the PTI’s politics revolved around Khan and when the party head was not in the field, divisions within the ranks were quite natural.
He claimed the PTI would have won at least nine of the 11 seats if Khan had led the campaign.
Out of 7,364 registered overseas Pakistanis votes, 6,233 polled their votes through i-voting. The Election Commission had allowed overseas Pakistanis to vote on an experimental basis on the orders of the Supreme Court. The poll panel will decide about the inclusion of their votes in the final count in a day or two.