ISLAMABAD: Maryam Nawaz, vice-president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, said late Sunday her party would respect the people's mandate as the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) gained a decisive lead in the high-stakes by-elections on 20 Punjab Assembly seats.
The statement came as the former prime minister Imran Khan's PTI party gained the lead in 16 out of 20 provincial assembly constituencies, local media reported, citing unofficial and unconfirmed results.
The PTI has also been leading in three out of four provincial assembly constituencies in Lahore, the provincial capital and a traditional stronghold of the ruling PML-N.
In an admission of PTI's victory, Nawaz asked her party to "openly accept" the election results and identify and eliminate its weaknesses.
"Muslim League-N should openly accept the results, bow before the decision of the masses," she said on Twitter. "Winning or losing is part of politics... wherever there are weaknesses, efforts should be made to identify and overcome them. God willing, it will be fine."
The results of Sunday’s by-polls will also dictate the fate of Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz as the party gaining majority of seats will be in a position to form the government in Punjab.
Shehbaz became the province’s chief executive in April with the support of 25 dissident PTI lawmakers, whom the election authorities disqualified for switching political loyalties.
Many believe PTI's victory in by-polls and subsequent formation of the government in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and politically significant province, may also have implications for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government in the center.
