Summary It's the third consecutive win for Ayaz Sadiq in NA-122 constituency.
LAHORE (Web Desk / Reuters) - In a closely contested by-election on Sunday, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Ayaz Sadiq has retained NA-122 Lahore seat by defeating Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf s Aleem Khan with a margin of 2,443 votes.
The NA-122 constituency fell vacant after an election tribunal voided Sadiq s victory there in 2013 over election-day irregularities.
As per unofficial results, former National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has secured 74,525 votes whereas Aleem Khan bagged 72,082 votes.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Barrister Aamir Hasan obtained only 819 votes.
Around 200,000 people voted out of 348,000 registered voters. Official results were due to be announced by the election commission on Monday morning.
The PML-N supporters were also seen celebrating the victory in various parts of the city, distributing sweets and setting off fireworks.
PML-N supporters celebrating Ayaz Sadiq s victory
Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Sunday night, PTI candidate Abdul Aleem Khan accepted his defeat, stating that the squeezed margin of votes is an achievement for PTI supporters.
Senior PTI leader Jahangir Tareen said the result of NA-122 by-polls has not affected the morale of PTI workers and the party is fully prepared for the local government elections.
PTI leaders addressing a press conference
The PTI leaders, however, accused the ruling PML-N of using state machinery to sway votes.
Tareen stated that PTI had pointed out the irregularities in the voter lists at each stage and the party will announce its strategy for the upcoming election after complete investigation into this matter.
He also stated that the reduction in the number of overall votes for the PML-N was a victory for the PTI and was an indication that it was sure to win the next elections
In his address to the party workers, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said his victory is a hat-trick against PTI chairman Imran Khan.
He said he will feel his victory truly on the day when Imran Khan will join hands with the PML-N government for a better future of Pakistan, the Radio Pakistan reported.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif felicitated Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on his victory. He said Ayaz Sadiq s success is the victory of PML-N s politics of public service.
Shahbaz Sharif said those who tried to buy the conscious of people of Lahore through the politics of lies, stand exposed.
PML-N DEFEATED IN PP-147
On the other hand, the PML-N has lost the provincial assembly seat (PP-147) to PTI.
District Returning Officer Ahmed Nawaz announced that PTI candidate Shoaib Siddiqui has defeated PML-N’s Mohsin Latif with a margin of around 3562 votes.
Shoaib Siddiqui bagged 31,964 votes and PML-N candidate Mohsin Latif finished second with 28,402 votes. Moreover, Advocate Iftikhar Shahid of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) got 758 votes.
There were 140,767 registered voters in PP-147 and 62,534 voters cast their votes.
Voters turnout remained 44.42 percent.
ECP’S RESPONSE
Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob has said the results of polling stations will be dispatched to the Returning Officer under army supervision for final compilation.
In a statement, he said all the political parties demonstrated utmost sense of responsibility during the polling process.
GOVERNMENT’S PERFORMANCE
A nationwide Gallup poll conducted this month found that 37 percent of voters favored the PTI while 46 percent favored the PMLN.
Security and the economy have improved under PM Nawaz Sharif, although analysts say external factors have contributed.
Attacks by insurgents have fallen around 70 percent this year, partly due to a military offensive in the northwest and a military-led crackdown in the southern city of Karachi.
Annual inflation is at its lowest in a dozen years, largely due to lower oil prices. The economy is growing faster, although still not fast enough to absorb new entrants to the job market.
But the government has failed to crack down on corruption or improve tax collection from the wealthy, whose continued tax evasion is starving social services such as schools and hospitals of cash.
