Opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has bagged four seats in the National Assembly, reducing the ruling Pakistan Tehreef-e-Insaf’s majority, The Express Tribune reported on Monday.
Bye-elections were held on Sunday to 11 National Assembly seats – nine in Punjab and one each in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – and 24 provincial Assembly seats, 11 of them in Punjab, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two each in Sindh and Balochistan.
Most of the seats where bye-elections were held had been vacated by those elected on more than one seat in the July 25 general elections, including Prime Minister Imran Khan who won in all the five National Assembly constituencies he had contested, reported Dawn.
Pakistan Tehreef-e-Insaf lost two of the four National Assembly seats vacated by Khan to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the PML-N.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who lost the general elections from two constituencies, defeated PTI’s Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan in NA-124 Lahore.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreef-e-Insaf won four seats each in the National Assembly while Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid won two seats and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal one seat, the Election Commission of Pakistan said.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the election results are the indicative of times to come, reported Geo News. “We received more votes than we expected,” he said. “For the first time in Pakistan’s history, we are seeing such a result after a government has been in power for 50 to 60 days.”
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said the ruling party would have won at least nine of the 11 National Assembly seats had Prime Minister Khan led the campaign for the bye-elections. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan had restrained the top party leadership from running a campaign.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz also won six out of 11 contested seats in Punjab provincial assembly while Pakistan Tehreef-e-Insaf won five. The PML-N also bagged a provincial assembly seat in Khyber-Pakhtukhwa, the PTI’s stronghold.
According to the Election Commission, 9.28 million people were eligible to vote. For the first time, overseas Pakistanis also participated in the elections though a special online portal designed by the Election Commission. Officials said 84% of the registered overseas voters cast their votes in the bye-polls.
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