Daily Times

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/KARACHI/QUETTA: Both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) almost won four National Assembly seats each as unofficial results continued to pour in after polling for crucial by-elections in 35 constituencies of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures across the country concluded Sunday evening.

Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) was leading the race in two while Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in one NA constituency till the filing of this report.

The PML-N was leading on five seats, PTI also on five, while an independent candidate was ahead on one Punjab Assembly seat. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PTI was leading in six constituencies while ANP was ahead on three seats. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was leading in all two constituencies in Sindh while Balochistan National Party (BNP) and an independent candidate were leading on one seat each in Balochistan.

According to the results received after counting at 93 percent of the polling stations was complete, Zahid Akram Durrani of the MMA was leading with 54,211 votes, followed by Naseem Ali Shah of the PTI with 33,811 votes in NA-35 Bannu. The seat was won by PTI in the July 25 general election. However, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had managed to win with a margin of only 2.84 per cent in the July 25 election. Zahid Akram Durrani’s father, Akram Khan Durrani, had been the runner up in the contest, securing over 106,000 votes.

In NA-53 Islamabad, Ali Nawaz Awan of the PTI was leading with 48,597 votes, followed by Waqar Ahmad of the PML-N with 30,491 votes.

In NA-56 Attock, Malik Sohail of the PML-N was leading with 117,910 votes, followed by Khurram Ali Khan of the PTI with 81,875 votes. PTI’s Tahir Sadiq had won by a comfortable margin of 16 percent of the total votes cast in the constituency on July 25. The constituency has, however, swung strongly to the PML-N this time.

In NA-60 Rawalpindi, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq of the PTI was leading with 39,527 votes, followed by Sajjad Khan of the PML-N with 39,022. The constituency proved to be a real nail-biter. The PTI candidate was ahead by less than a hundred votes against his rival. This is quite surprising given that NA-60 is home ground of Sheikh Rashid Shafiq’s uncle: Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

In NA-63 Rawalpindi, Mansoor Hayat Khan of the PTI was leading with 68,598 votes, following by Aqeel Malik of the PML-N with 41,813 votes.

In NA-65 Chakwal, Chaudhry Salik Hussain of the PML-Q was leading with 100,648 votes, followed by Muhammad Yaqoob of the TLP with 31,942.

In NA-69 Gujrat, Moonis Elahi of the PML-Q was leading with 65,453 votes, followed by Imran Zafar of the PML-N with 14,767 votes.

In NA-103 Faisalabad, Ali Gohar Khan of the PML-N was leading with 68,159 votes, followed by Muhammad Saadullah of the PTI with 59,111 votes.

In NA-124 Lahore, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the PML-N was leading with 78,691 votes, followed by Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan of the PTI with 32,392 votes. The seat was vacated by PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz. In NA-131 Lahore, Khawaja Saad Rafique of the PML-N was leading with 53,352 votes, followed by Humayun Akhtar Khan of the PTI with 45,478 votes. The seat was previously won by the PTI. This isn’t particularly surprising, given Imran Khan’s margin of victory on that seat in the July 25 election was a wafer-thin 0.36pc.

In NA-243 Karachi, Alamgir Khan of the PTI was leading with 30,135 votes, followed by Amir Waliuddin Chishti of the MQM with 12,733 votes.

The polling started at 8am and continued till 5pm. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had printed 9.5 million ballot papers for the by-elections in which 641 candidates were contesting. Some 9,208,374 voters were eligible to cast their votes in the polling for which 7,489 polling stations had been set up. Of these, 1,727 polling stations were declared extremely sensitive. Closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) had been installed at the sensitive polling stations. According to the ECP, 5,881 overseas Pakistanis cast votes in the by-polls with an impressive 76% turnout.

Published in Daily Times, October 15^th 2018.