KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged the victor in both of the metropolis seats, PS-111 as well as the coveted NA-247, according to the unofficial results from the 80 and 240 polling stations, respectively.
By-polls for the National Assembly seat NA-247, Sindh Assembly’s PS-111, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s PK-71 were held today, with the vote count underway on PS-111.
The PTI’s candidate Aftab Hussain Siddiqui bagged 32,326 votes in NA-247, followed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Sadiq Iftikhar as the runner-up at 13,985 votes and the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians’ (PPPP) Qaiser Khan Nizamani last at 13,012 votes.
As for the PS-111 constituency, Shahzad Qureshi of the PTI won with 11,658 votes, while the PPPP’S Muhammad Fayyaz Pirzada and the MQM-P’s Jehanzeb Mughal were second and third at 5,780 and 2,146 votes, respectively.
ANP wins PK-71
On the other hand, the Awami National Party (ANP) clinched victory in the PK-71 constituency in the by-polls today, stealing the Peshawar seat from the PTI.
Unofficial results from all 86 polling stations showed that the ANP’s Salahuddin secured victory on the PK-71 seat with 11,257 votes, followed by the PTI’s Zulfiqar Khan, who secured 9,854 votes.
The PK-71 seat had fallen vacant after Shah Farman was appointed as Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Independent candidates Dildar Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, and Fazale Haq Kohi Damani also contested on the seat.
Contestants
Twelve candidates contested for the NA-247 constituency, while 11 were in the run for the Sindh Assembly seat. The seat was vacated by the now-President Dr Arif Alvi, while the PS-111 seat was vacated by Imran Ismail, the now-Governor of Sindh.
Prominent candidates in the run for the NA-247 seat included the PTI’s Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, PPPP’s Qaiser Nizamani, Sadiq Iftikhar of the MQM-P, and the Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) Arshad Vohra.
Seven independent candidates also contested the by-polls for the constituency: Syed Adil Askari, Syed Mujahid Rasool, Shaikh Samir Mir, Tahir Ashraf Hashmi, Abdul Jalil Khan, Muhammad Ayaz, and Muhammad Sharif Awan. Ali Nawab of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek was also in the run.
The PTI’s Shehzad Qureshi, MQM-P’s Jehanzeb Mughal, PML-N’s Mohammad Zahid Hussain, and activist Muhammad Jibran Nasir were among those contesting in the PS-111 constituency.
Earlier today, President Alvi cast his vote at the Defence Authority Model High School, where he had spoken to the media and requested the public to come out and vote. Responding to a question, he said everyone knew why the inflation had risen in the past 15 days.
Governor Ismail also cast his vote at the DHA Girls’ College in Phase 8, Karachi.
The polling started at 8 AM and ended at 5 PM. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) stated that it did not extend the time for voting. Polling material was transported to the polling stations under the supervision of Pakistan Army personnel a day prior.
According to the ECP, there are 546,451 and 178,965 registered voters in the NA-247 and PS-111 constituencies.
Oct 14 by-election result
In the by-election on October 14, polling was held for 11 seats each of the National and Punjab assemblies, nine of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and two each of the Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies.
The PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won four seats each. The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) retained the two seats that were vacated by party chief Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, while the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) won the NA-35 constituency in Bannu.
The ruling PTI was unable to retain the two seats won by the now-Prime Minister Imran Khan in the July 25 general election.
