Former prime minister and ruling PML-N’s supremo Nawaz Sharif has expressed annoyance over his party’s “worst defeat” in Sunday’s by-elections, directing the party officials to set up a fact-finding committee on the by-poll drubbing.
PML-N sources reported on Monday that chaotic scenes were witnessed at party huddles with after Nawaz expressed dissatisfaction over the party leadership’s performance in yesterday’s by-elections in three provinces of the country and directed the ministers and senior party leaders to submit the report on the thumping defeat.
The PML-N leadership submitted a preliminary report on election defeat to Nawaz Sharif, in which rising inflation and massive increase in electricity prices were quoted as major reasons behind the defeat.
The insiders added the report also held party’s renewed ‘conciliatory narrative’ and lack of senior leadership interest in the party affairs responsible for the upset in by-polls.
Last night, Imran Khan won six National Assembly seats for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the by-election that was seen as a direct contest between the former ruling party and the current ruling coalition led by PML-N.
Out of the eight National Assembly seats previously held by the PTI, Imran contested on seven, while Meher Bano Qureshi was to defend the party’s bastion in Multan. However, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made inroads, with Hakeem Baloch winning in Karachi and Ali Musa Gilani in Multan.
According to the unofficial results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Imran won the National Assembly seats from Mardan, Charsadda and Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Faisalabad and Nankana Sahib in Punjab and the Korangi district of Karachi in Sindh.
The PPP won in Multan, Punjab and Malir district of Karachi. Besides, by-polls were also held on three seats of the Punjab Assembly previously held by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). According to the unofficial results, the PTI emerged victorious on two seats, while the PML-N retained one.
The results gave both sides something to go ahead. Based on PTI’s popularity and its momentum, many expected that the party would clean sweep but this didn’t happen. Victories in Multan and Karachi for the joint candidates for PPP and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) also gave face-saving to the PPP.
