ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party has secured victory in 12 out of the 13 national and provincial constituencies that were up for grabs during the recently held by-elections held in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, unofficial results from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) revealed on Monday.
Strict security measures were in place on Sunday as thousands took to the ballot box under stringent security measures. Voting was held across National Assembly constituencies NA-18 Haripur, NA-96 Faisalabad, NA-104 Faisalabad, NA-129 Lahore, NA-143 Sahiwal, and NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan. Polling for provincial assembly seats was held in PP-73 Sargodha, PP-87 Mianwali, PP-98 Faisalabad, PP-115 Faisalabad, PP-116 Faisalabad, PP-203 Sahiwal and PP-269 Muzaffargarh cities.
Most of the seats fell vacant after lawmakers affiliated with former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were disqualified months ago following their convictions in cases related to the May 2023 violent protests. Angry Khan supporters had attacked government and military installations over his brief arrest in a graft case on May 9, 2023, leading to a nationwide crackdown against them. Khan and his party deny they instigated the masses to attack state properties.
According to unofficial results issued by the ECP via Form 47, the overall result document released by the returning officer of each constituency, the PML-N secured victory in all constituencies except for the provincial assembly seat in Muzaffargarh, which was won by a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate.
"From NA-143, Pakistan Muslim League (N) candidate Chaudhry Tufail Jutt has been elected as a Member of the National Assembly after securing 136,313 votes," the PML-N wrote on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, as per a copies of the Form 47 results seen by Arab News, in NA-96, PML-N’s Mohammad Bilal Badar won the by-poll by securing 93,009 votes while independent candidate Nawab Sher Waseer bagged 43,025 votes.
In NA-129 Lahore, Muhammad Noman from the PML-N secured 63,441 votes while an independent candidate came in at number two with 29,099 votes. In Haripur's NA-18 constituency, the PML-N's Babar Nawaz Khan secured 163,996 votes while independent candidate Shehrnaz Omar Ayub, the wife of senior PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan, lost by securing 120,220 votes.
The PPP's Iqbal Khan won the PP-269 Muzaffargarh assembly seat by securing 46,320 votes.
Meanwhile, the PTI accused the government of rigging the by-polls in their favor. Omar Ayub, in a post on X, alleged that the returning officer of NA-18 in Haripur was "entering results from fabricated Form 45s."
"He is not accepting the original Form 45s that are with us that clearly shows PTI's lead of 27,000 votes," Omar Ayub wrote. "NA 18 election is being stolen."
Khan's party has accused authorities and the ECP in the past of rigging elections to keep it away from power. The ECP and authorities have always rejected the PTI's allegations.
