ISLAMABAD: The vote on long-delayed by-elections on eight National Assembly (NA) seats, including seven that the PTI gave up in April and three Punjab Assembly seats is continuing across the country. Here is a summary of Sunday’s races amid a sweltering political climate.
Battlegrounds
The NA constituents where by-elections are to be held today are NA-22 Mardan-III, NA-24 Charsadda-II, NA-31 Peshawar-V, NA-108 Faisalabad-VIII, NA-118 Nankana Sahib-II, NA-157 Multan-IV, NA-237 Malir-II, NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I.
In Punjab, by-polls are also being held on three provincial assembly seats, PP-241 Bahawalnagar-V, PP-209 Khanewal-VII, and PP-139 Sheikhupura-V.
From among the contenders, 52 are vying for six seats in Punjab, 33 have their eyes set on three seats in KP, and 16 are in the race for two seats in Sindh.
Punjab
Meher Bano Qureshi, the PTI candidate for Multan NA-157, is the daughter of PPP leader and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. She is competing against Senator Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son, former prime minister Ali Musa Gilani, of the PPP.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s son, Zain Qureshi, relinquished the seat by running for the Punjab Assembly’s PP-217 as an MPA and defeating PML-N candidate Salman Naeem in the most recent by-election.
Despite the fact that Shah Mahmood Qureshi is thought to have a stronghold in the district, Musa Gilani won the by-election in 2012.
Abid Sher Ali and Shezra Mansab of the PML-N will be running against Imran in NA-108 Faisalabad-VIII and NA-118 Nankana Sahib-II, respectively. After three years of self-exile, Ali traveled to London and then flew back to Pakistan in May. He was defeated by PTI’s Farukh Habib for the NA-108 seat in 2018 by a vote margin of 1,000 and is now running again following the resignation of the PTI leader.
Imran has been actively managing his party’s campaign, on the other hand. In a video message posted to the PTI Twitter account, he linked by-elections to his call for “Haqeeqi Azadi” (true freedom), a campaign he has started since being ousted and which accuses the current administration of working with the US to depose him.
Karachi
Two NA seats in Sindh, NA-237 Malir-II and NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I, both in the provincial capital, are up for by-election.
The fact that today’s by-elections are taking place just one week before the October 23 local government elections makes them significant.
However, aside from the PTI, none of the opposing parties have made a significant effort to campaign in the days leading up to today’s elections.
With 22 candidates, including Imran, Nayyar Raza of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, and Muhammad Yasin of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I is likely to see the most intense competition.
Meanwhile, NA-237 Malir-II, with a much larger area but fewer voters, will see Imran battle against the PPP’s Abdul Hakeem Baloch.
Khyber-Paktunkhwa
Three seats are up for election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with four candidates running for NA-22 Mardan-III, one for NA-24 Charsadda-II, and eight for NA-31 Peshawar-V.
Ali Mohammad Khan, a PTI lawmaker, vacated the NA-22 Mardan-III seat. Imran is now competing for the seat against the PDM’s Maulana Mohammad Qasim from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Abdul Wasey of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), and independent candidate Mohammad Sarwar.
Despite the fact that NA-22 has four candidates running for office, political observers predict a close race between Qasim and Imran.
In Charsadda, Imran is up against Mujeebur Rehman of the JI, Sparlay Mohmand of the independent party, and Aimal Wali Khan of the Awami National Party, who has been the PTI leader’s toughest opponent among his three opponents.
Imran Khan, a former prime minister, is a candidate for NA-31 in Peshawar, along with independent candidates Emran Khan and Shaukat Ali, ANP leader Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Mohammad Aslam of JI, Saeedullah Khan of the Rah-i-Haq Party, Abdul Qadir of the Tehreek-i-Jawanan Pakistan, and former MNA Shaukat Ali.
