Kulsoom Nawaz wins Lahore by-election
LAHORE: The wife of ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday captured his parliamentary seat with a reduced majority in a by-election seen as a test of support for the Sharif dynasty ahead of the 2018 general election.
Sharif ’s daughter Maryam said her mother Kulsoom Nawaz won despite Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) party workers being threatened and kidnapped.
Although she did not name anyone, PML-N sources said she was referring to alleged intimidation by parts of Pakistan’s military.
“This is not an ordinary victory,” Maryam said in a speech to jubilant PML-N supporters. “You have defeated not only people who were in the field but also those who are invisible.” The main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party made gains but alleged voter irregularities in the eastern city of Lahore, the electoral heartlands of the Sharif family since 1980s.
Official results are yet to be announced but party officials who also tallied the numbers say Kulsoom, who did not campaign as she is receiving treatment for cancer in London, scooped about 53.5 per cent of the vote, with the party’s majority reduced from about 61 per cent in the 2013 general election.
The PML-N wanted to demonstrate that support for the Sharif family was undiminished despite the Supreme Court’s removal of Nawaz, who has kept control of the party and installed long-term ally Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as prime minister.
Maryam said dozens of PMLN activists were blindfolded and picked up from their homes at night, while others received threatening phone calls from unknown numbers during the campaign.