By surveys. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Voter turnout remained markedly subdued in the recent by-elections, with an overall turnout of just 28.58 per cent in six National Assemblies and seven provincial constituencies, according to official documents released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday.
The ECP data shows a stark contrast in voter turnout between constituencies, with only a few registering relatively strong turnout.
NA-18 Haripur emerged as the highest performing constituency nationally, registering a turnout of 50.82 per cent, almost double the national aggregate.
In comparison, other seats in the National Assembly recorded noticeably weaker turnout.
In NA-185 a turnout of 32.61 per cent was recorded, in NA-96 Faisalabad 26.46 per cent, in NA-143 Sahiwal 21.43 per cent and in NA-129 Lahore only 18.67 per cent registered voters cast their votes.
The lowest electoral activity among National Assembly seats was observed in NA-104 Faisalabad, where turnout fell to 13.23 percent, according to the documents.
The provincial by-elections reflected a similar downward trend, although with slightly better turnout in some sectors. PP-269 Muzaffargarh equaled Haripur with a turnout of 50.82 per cent, making it the most active among the provincial constituencies.
It was followed by PP-98 Faisalabad with 36.82 percent, PP-73 Sargodha with 34.45 percent and PP-87 Mianwali with 27 percent.
Meanwhile, PP-116 Faisalabad recorded 22.94 per cent, PP-203 Sahiwal 22.4 per cent and the remaining seats were below the already discouraging national average.
Emerging victorious from all seats, the ruling PML-N secured around 64 per cent of the total votes polled in the by-elections for six National Assembly constituencies held on Sunday.
Five constituencies were located in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats, except one, remained vacant due to the disqualification of opposition PTI MNAs.
The PML-N obtained 564,400 votes out of a total of 883,108 or 63.91% of the votes cast for the six seats in the National Assembly. In a surprising result, the PML-N also wrested the NA-18 (Haripur, KP) seat from the PTI against all expectations. Political analysts expected that at least this seat would be retained by the PTI due to certain factors including the fact that KP is governed by the PTI so there was minimal chance of rigging in the constituency.
The wife of former opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, was running against the little-known Babar Nawaz Khan of the PML-N.
Likewise, the PML-N wrested from the PTI the seat NA-129 (Lahore-XIII), which fell vacant after the death of MNA Miaz Azhar, former governor of Punjab and father of PTI leader Hammad Azhar. Mr Azhar’s nephew Arsalan was contesting against PML-N’s Hafiz Nauman here. Both represented the Arain clan, which constitutes the majority of voters in the constituency.
The PML-N won six of the seven Punjab Assembly seats in the province by securing 82.41 per cent of the votes polled.
