Supporters of Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party ‘Pakistan Muslim League-N. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) got the lion’s share in the key by-elections by winning at least two National and 10 provincial Assembly seats, according to the unofficial results on April 22.

By-elections were held on Sunday on 21 National and provincial Assembly seats amidst tight security and suspension of cellular and internet services in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan to maintain law and order.

Two seats each of the National Assembly in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and one seat in Sindh, while twelve seats of the Punjab Assembly and two each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan assemblies were up for grabs.

Major political parties including the PML-N, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) participated in the by-polls. However, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl of Maulana Fazlur Rehman boycotted the polls.

The Election Committee of Pakistan (ECP) has yet to issue the final results but private media channels shared the outcome based on the results of individual polling stations.

According to the Dunya News channel, the PML-N won two National Assembly seats while one each was grabbed by PPP, SIC and an independent candidate.

The preliminary result showed that PML-N won 10 out of 16 seats in the provincial assemblies, including nine from Punjab and one from Balochistan. One seat each was won by the PPP, the SIC, the Istehkam Pakistan Party, the Pakistan Muslim League, the Balochistan National Party and an independent candidate.

Cases of sporadic violence were reported and in one case, a supporter of the PML-N was killed after a clash with PTI voters in the Narowal area of Punjab. However, overall law and order was kept under control.

Earlier, the general elections were held across the country on February 8 to elect representatives for the National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. But polls were cancelled for one National Assembly, two Punjab Assembly and one seat of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly respectively.

In Punjab, NA-132 (Kasur) and NA-119 (Lahore) were vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while Shehbaz also gave up two of his provincial assembly seats in Lahore. He, however, retained his NA-123 seat in the National Assembly.

Apart from these leaders, candidates who had won more than one seat opted for a chosen seat after the elections, leaving the Election Commission of Pakistan to organise by-elections on 21 seats, including five National and 16 provincial assembly seats.

A day earlier, the federal government announced that cellular services would remain temporarily suspended in specific districts of Punjab and Balochistan during the by-elections. The request for the suspension was made by the ECP.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a statement, saying that the decision has been taken to safeguard the integrity and security of the electoral process.

Elaborate security measures have been taken by the authorities to control the law and order situation, with the deployment of regular army troops to maintain peace during the day-long process of by-elections.

The Punjab government had also asked the federal government to suspend mobile internet services in the province’s 13 districts and tehsils on April 21 to maintain law and order.

The move came despite severe criticism by media and political leaders of a similar step on February 8 when mobile services were suspended.

Islamabad:

The voting for 21 national and provincial seats ended amid the temporary suspension of cellular services in “specific districts” of Punjab and Balochistan provinces, which authorities claim were steps to “safeguard” the electoral process, Dawn reported on Sunday.

Elections were held for five seats in the National Assembly, twelve seats in the Punjab Assembly, two seats in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, and two seats in the Balochistan Assembly, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

According to the Pakistan-based news website, the by-elections were held under the umbrella of violence and disruption in the network services across the polling stations.

In Sheikhupura’s PP-139, the polling process was temporarily stopped after a “firing incident”.

In a statement, the Punjab election commissioner’s office said that due to a “firing incident” at a polling station (Government Primary School Nizampura), the polling process had been stopped.

However, it had later resumed after the police controlled the situation, the statement added.

In Lahore, at polling station number 171 (Lahore College), workers of the Pakistan Tehreeke-e-Insaf (PTI) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) coalition had a fight with those of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the issue of setting up polling camps. The argument was then brought to a conclusion with the help of police intervention.

Reports of arguments also emerged from various political leaders.

Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party’s (IPP’s) Shoaib Siddiqui said there were reports of a face-off in Union Council 184, Dawn reported.

Separately, SIC’s Mian Shahzad Farooq claimed that his party workers were being arrested in NA-119 and that the polling agent had been forced out of the returning officer’s office after he went there to file a complaint.

Across Lahore, 24 superintendents, 45 senior deputy police officers (SDPOs), 168 inspectors, station house officers (SHOs), and investigation in-charges will serve their duties during the by-elections, Dawn reported.

A total of 195 pickets were established at Lahore’s entry and exit points while security was on “high alert”.

Earlier on Saturday, the interior ministry had allowed the suspension of mobile internet services to “maintain law and order” in 13 districts and tehsils in Punjab, Dawn reported.

It should be mentioned that mobile and internet services were also shut down during the February 8 general elections. Meanwhile, access to social media platform X has been disrupted since Feb 17, when the former Rawalpindi commissioner accused the chief election commissioner and chief justice of Pakistan of being involved in rigging.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)