LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) has emerged as the major winner of the by-polls held at six national assembly seats and seven Punjab assembly seats.
Though the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had officially boycotted the by-elections in Punjab but most of the independent candidates contesting the elections labeled themselves as the PTI-backed candidates.
The most interesting election was held at NA-18 where PTI’s KP government allegedly gave full support to the candidate Shehrnaz Omar Ayub but according to the unofficial results of this election, PMLN candidate Babar Nawaz Khan won by securing 163,996 votes. Shehrnaz secured 120,220 votes. As per the unofficial results, PMLN candidates clenched all the NA seats — NA-18 (Haripur), NA-96 and NA-104 (Faisalabad), NA-129 (Lahore), NA-143 (Sahiwal) and NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan) -- while out of the seven provincial assembly seats the PMLN emerged victorious on six seats and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Mian Alamdar Abbas won the PP-269 by securing 55,868 votes against independent candidate Muhammad Iqbal Khan Pitafi. In this constituency the PMLN had not nominated anyone.
After Sunday night and on Monday, the PMLN workers celebrated the victory, distributed sweets, played bhangras to the beat of drums, chanted slogans, and displayed fireworks at different places.
As per the unconfirmed and unofficial results, in the NA-129 (Lahore), PMLN candidate Hafiz Mian Noman got 63,441 votes while independent candidate Arsalan Ahmed got 29,099 votes. In NA-104 (Faisalabad) PMLN’s Daniyal Ahmed secured over 52,511 votes while his opponent Rana Adnan Javed got 19,262 votes only. In NA-96 (Faisalabad), Bilal Badar of the PMLN secured over 93,000 votes while independent candidate Nawab Sher Wasir got 43,025 votes.
In NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan II), PMLN candidate Mehmood Qadir Khan defeated PPP’s Dost Muhammad Khosa by getting 82,413 votes against Dost Muhammad Khosa’s 48,262 votes.
In NA-143 (Chichawatni), PMLN candidate Tufail Jatt won by getting 136,313 votes while the independent candidate Zarar Akbar got only 13,120 votes.
In the provincial assembly elections, the situation was almost the same and PMLN candidates sailed through without any hurdle. As per unofficial results in PP-73 (Sargodha), Mian Sultan Ali Ranjha of the PMLN won by securing 71,770 votes, while his opponent, independent candidate Mehr Mohsin Raza got 12,970 votes.
In PP-87 (Mianwali-3) Ali Haider Noor Khan Niazi of the PMLN secured 67,870 votes while runner-up Muhammad Ayaz Khan Niazi got 6,368 votes.
In PP-115 (Faisalabad-18), PMLN’s Muhammad Tahir Pervez won by getting 49,046 votes while runner-up Muhammad Asghar got 1,898 votes.
In PP-116 (Faisalabad 19), PMLN candidate Ahmed Shehryar secured the seat by getting 48,824 votes against the independent candidate Malik Asghar Ali Qaiser who got 11,429 votes. In PP-203 (Chicha Watni), PMLN candidate Chaudhry Hanif got 46,820 votes while his opponent Falak Sher got 10,975. In PP-269 (Muzaffargarh) Mian Alamdar Abbas Qureshi of PPP secured 55,868 votes against the independent candidate Muhammad Iqbal Khan Pitafi.
The only high scoring match was played in PP-98 (Faisalabad-1) where PMLN candidate Ali Tabassum got around 44,388 votes while his opponent, independent candidate Muhammad Asghar Malik secured 35,246 votes.
Meanwhile, PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Yousaf Ayub Khan rejected the official result of NA-8, Haripur. They alleged that, according to Form-45 copies handed over to polling agents after the count inside polling stations, their candidate Shehrnaz Omar Ayub Khan had in fact won by a large margin.
However, the results later released at night through the District Returning Officer Haripur’s SMS system were different and did not match Form-45, which they termed blatant rigging. Meanwhile, PMLN President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has congratulated the party candidates on their victory in the by-elections and said that the Pakistani people have rejected violence, chaos and destructive politics and have chosen the path of development, prosperity and stability.
In his statement issued on his X handle, Nawaz congratulated the PMLN candidates and workers on their victory in the by-elections and said that the hard work and selfless service of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif were bringing the country back on the right path.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Monday decided to stop the notification of the victory of Minister of State Talal Chaudhry’s brother Bilal Chaudhry for the former’s alleged violation of the code of conduct.
Headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, a four-member ECP bench heard the case as Talal Chaudhry was summoned. During the hearing, the bench took the position that the state minister has clearly violated the code of conduct.
It was emphasised that as per the code, the minister of state is not authorised to participate in any election campaign and that strict action should be taken against him. The CEC remarked that Minister of State Talal Chaudhry violated and did not even dare to appear (before the bench).
To this, the minister’s lawyer said that his client will appear before the commission. After which the ECP exempted him from attendance for the first hearing. The CEC clarified that Bilal Chaudhry is not being disqualified, only the notification of his victory has been decided to be stopped. The hearing was adjourned till December 2.
Separately, Special Assistant to the PM Huzaifa Rehman has unconditionally apologised to the ECP for alleged violation the code of conduct in the Dera Ghazi Khan by-election. Meanwhile, the ECP will resume hearing today (Tuesday) in connection with the alleged violation of the code of conduct and election laws by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Notices have been issued already to the chief minister, candidates for the by-election Ms Shernaz Omar Khan and PMLN’s Babar Nawaz- from NA-18, Haripur. Separately, the electoral body has issued a certificate about the intra-party elections of ‘Aam Log Ittehad’ with Azizullah Khan and Syed Ali Salman elected unopposed as its chairman and secretary general unopposed.
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government accused the ECP of rigging the NA-18 Haripur by-election and ordered an inquiry. Addressing a press conference at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, provincial government spokesperson Shafi Ullah Jan said they had won through the people’s votes but their mandate was “robbed” at the Returning Officer’s (RO) office.
Shafi Hullah Jan said the events in the Haripur and Punjab by-elections were evident before the nation. He said the PTI contested only two seats — Haripur and Mian Azhar’s constituency in Punjab — while it boycotted the rest of the by-polls.
He said all political parties were allowed to campaign in the KP by-elections. “Captain (retd) Safdar ran a full-fledged campaign, while Ikhtiyar Wali and Javed Murtaza Abbasi were also free to campaign,” he added.
“Our lead in Haripur was between 32,000 and 35,000 votes. We had already won through the people’s mandate. We have all the Form-45s,” he claimed, alleging that the Form-47 results were changed at the RO office.
The KP government spokesperson said the RO office was suddenly shifted, and PTI workers were forcibly removed from the premises. “The RO office was taken over,” he alleged. He reiterated that the rigging was committed by the ECP while the district administration was not involved.
“From the polling station to the RO office, the district administration fulfilled its responsibility. The RO is the representative of the ECP,” he said. “We will investigate the rigging in the Haripur election. The chief minister has ordered a full inquiry — from Class-IV employees to the deputy commissioner,” he stated.
Meanwhile, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the government had resurrected, what he called, the disastrous 1971 blueprint by “brazenly disqualifying duly elected lawmakers and fraudulently imposing rejected losers to fabricate a fake majority to prolong its rule”.
He said that no lessons were learnt from the Fall of Dhaka—a tragedy caused by the brutal denial of the Awami League’s mandate, systematic oppression, and the callous, step-motherly abuse of the people of East Pakistan.
Waqas said that after securing a simple majority, the PMLN could reveal its true colours and give a cold shoulder to its coalition partner. He challenged the government to announce fresh elections, daring all political forces to unite under one election symbol against the PTI.
He declared that his party would not just defeat, but obliterate all rival parties from the political landscape once and for all, provided the ECP ensured a genuine level playing field and free, fair, and transparent polls.
