Four new PML-N members of the National Assembly took their oath on Thursday after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified the winners of the recent by-elections, except for the constituency of NA-96 (Faisalabad-II), due to a violation of the code of conduct.
The ruling PML-N secured close to 64 per cent of the total votes polled in the by-elections for six National Assembly constituencies held on Sunday as it emerged victorious on all seats. Five constituencies were located in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats, except for one, were vacated due to the disqualification of the opposition PTI MNAs.
The PML-N also won six out of seven Punjab Assembly seats in the province by securing 82.41pc of the polled votes. On the seventh seat, it had not fielded its candidate in PP-269, Muzaffargarh, against PPP nominee Alamdar Qureshi.
The ECP notified the following PML-N members as MNAs: Mahmood Qadir Khan for NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan-II), Mohammad Nauman for NA-129 (Lahore-XIII), Muhammad Tufail for NA-143 (Sahiwal-III), Danyal Ahmad for NA-104 (Faisalabad-X) and Babar Nawaz for NA-18 (Haripur).
Excluding Nawaz, the four were later administered their oath by NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq as the assembly’s 22nd session commenced.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Qureshi was notified for PP-269 (Muzaffargarh-II) and PML-N’s Sultan Ali Ranjha for PP-73 (Sargodha-III), Ali Haider Noor Khan Niazi for PP-87 (Mianwali-III), Azad Ali Tabassum for PP-98 (Faisalabad-I), Tahir Pervaiz for PP-115 (Faisalabad-XVIII), Ahmad Shehryar for PP-116 (Faisalabad-XIX) and Muhammad Hanif for PP-203 (Sahiwal-VI).
Meanwhile, for NA-96, ECP spokesperson Duriya Amir said: “Notification of the success of the successful candidate from NA-96 Faisalabad has been stopped. A code of conduct case is pending in the election commission against Talal Chaudhry and Bilal Chaudhry.”
The ECP had decided on Monday to withhold Bilal’s victory notification over the minister’s alleged violation of the code of conduct.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the case for hearing. The state minister, who had been summoned, did not turn up. During the hearing, the bench observed that the state minister clearly violated the code of conduct.
It was emphasised that, as per the code, the minister was not authorised to participate in any election campaign and that strict action should be taken against him. The CEC remarked that Talal did not even bother to appear before the bench.
In response, the minister’s lawyer said that his client would appear before the commission. Later, the Election Commission exempted him from attendance for the first hearing. The CEC clarified that Bilal Chaudhry was not being disqualified; only the notification of his victory would be withheld. The hearing was adjourned till December 2.
By-poll performance
The PML-N had bagged 564,400 votes out of a total 883,108 or 63.91pc of the votes cast for the six National Assembly seats. In a surprising outcome, the PML-N also snatched from the PTI the NA-18 seat (Haripur, KP) against all expectations.
Political analysts had been hoping that at least this seat would be retained by the PTI because of certain factors, including the fact that KP is being ruled by the PTI, so there were minimal chances of rigging in the constituency.
“Now the PPP cannot blackmail the PML-N for the passage of the annual federal budget,” Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan, former head of Punjab University’s Political Science Department, had told Dawn, referring to the simple majority the PML-N would attain in the National Assembly after grabbing the six NA seats.
Discussing the factors about the defeat of the PTI in NA-18, he said the voters were alienated, believing that when their ballots were not “honoured” in the 2024 general elections, it would serve no purpose this time either. Also, it became clear that the PTI leadership without Imran Khan was unable to mobilise supporters, he added.
Endorsing his views, Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Amjad Magsi had said that the PTI leadership was not clear-headed and failed to fully run the election campaign, while the lack of its traditional election symbol also played a role in the defeat. He said the turnout in the by-elections was low due to disappointment among the PTI supporters.
