ISLAMABAD: There was still confusion regarding the results of the Islamabad local government elections on Tuesday night and conflicting accounts began to emerge.

According to the unofficial and unverified results available at the time of going to press, PML-N had won the chairman’s seat in 19 union councils (UCs), PTI had been victorious in 17 UCs and independent candidates had claimed victory in 13 UCs, while in one UC, there was a tie between the PML-N and independent candidate, which would be settled as per election rules.

The figures were provided by sources in the Election Commission of Pakistan, but they contradicted the figures provided by the two major parties. In the consolidated results, released by party office-bearers to the media, both PML-N and PTI agreed that the ruling party had won at least 21 seats, while the latter had a strong claim to the chairman’s seat in at least 16 UCs.

PML-N Secretary General (City) Sajid Abbasi said that apart from the 21 chairman seats, at least four other party leaders had won the LG elections as independent candidates. PTI MNA Asad Umar was at pains to point out that his party had reservations regarding results in at least seven UCs, five of which had been claimed by PML-N and two by independent candidates.

The Election Commission had earlier said that the final result would be declared by Dec 3.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2015