Pakistan’s by-elections see Imran Khan win six of the eight seats, and his party chief cites the ‘will of the people.’

In by-elections, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won six seats in the National Assembly (NA) and two seats in the Punjab Assembly (PA), causing a significant upset to the government of the nation, which is led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

 

 

Up to seven constituencies for the Pakistan National Assembly and three for the PA were used by the PTI to run for office. After defeating the candidates of the ruling coalition, it was successful in winning the seats in the NA for Mardan, Charsadda, Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib, and Peshawar. According to Geo News, the party triumphed in the Punjabi cities of Khanewal, Sheikhupura, and Bahawalnagar. However, Khan’s party lost in the 2018 elections in the PTI-winning constituencies of Multan and Malir-II.

 

On Sunday, voting began at 8 am and ended at 5 pm, at which time the counting process also began. Despite generally easy voting, there have been reports of fights between PTI and Awami National Party (ANP) activists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to Dawn. The Dawn article states that, the PTI asserted that one of its lawmakers had been ‘attacked’ in Karachi, and claims of vote-rigging by a polling official had also surfaced there.

 

PPP allegedly orchestrated the alleged rigging, according to PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman.

 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reported that 15 complaints of code violations were received by the central control room.