Multan by-poll confirms result of 2013 elections: Pervez Rashid

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage, Senator Pervez Rashid said on Thursday that the by-election of NA-149 confirms the results of General Election 2013.

In a statement issued in the aftermath of PTI-bakced Amir Dogar’s victory against PML-N-backed Javed Hashmi in today’s by-poll in Multan, he said that the low turnout in the bye-election also rejects the demand made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for midterm elections in the country.

“The low voter turnout shows that it is fatigued and is in no mood for fresh General Election in the country.”

Rashid said that the margin of victory of Amir Dogar has been reduced as compared to the General Election 2013.

Referring to a public meeting addressed by Imran Khan in Multan in which he claimed that the participation in the rally was unprecedented, the minister said Khan had personally campaigned for Amir Dogar and yet remained unsuccessful in pulling out the supporters of PTI to vote.

“This reflects that PTI's policy of 'Dharnas' (sit-ins) has been rejected by its own supporters,” said Rashid.

The information minister said that the bye-poll has once again proved that people have confidence in the present electoral system and are free to make a choice of their liking.

Senator Rashid said that Imran Khan should review his style of politics, policy of confrontation and baseless accusations as it has failed to impress the common man.

The minister instead advised the PTI chairman to play his role as an opposition leader and focus on Khyber Pukhtunkhwa so that people can judge him by his performance rather than tall claims.

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ismail

Oct 17, 2014 12:56am

I think it is not fatigue. Now that result is in favor of opposition party, people at large will now make efforts to come out for votes as before people were sure that their votes have no value due to rigging! I would consider that its a good beginning and hopefully peoples confidence in election will be restored.

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Hamood

Oct 17, 2014 12:57am

Mr. Rashid, you cannot fool all the people all the time. You are not making much sense.

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Tajammal Waheed

Oct 17, 2014 12:59am

Grapes are sour.

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tinker bell

Oct 17, 2014 01:00am

Information Minister is sadly making no sense with his illogical comments.

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Sana Jahan

Oct 17, 2014 01:02am

Have a big heart Pervez Rahid Saheb. Times have changed people realize they them-self have to come out and let their voices be heard. Bad goverance would not be tolerated if free and fair elections are held each and everytime. One wonder how you guys have won three PMs.

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Rameez

Oct 17, 2014 01:06am

He needs to wake up to the reality, and understand that not all the participants at PTI rally were from multan or NA-149,

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david

Oct 17, 2014 01:12am

come on imran bhai...... ab to maan jao democracy ko jadde jammein ka time de doooooo?it takes time but it is the best way i hope all will agree

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Ace

Oct 17, 2014 01:23am

Mein sadkey jaon interpretation pey..... whao..

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Moin Nawaz

Oct 17, 2014 01:24am

The only thing this election result proves that TI would have won in the 2013 elections if they were not rigged. Also it proves that PMLN popularity is at all Tim low

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Zahid

Oct 17, 2014 01:34am

The win for Dogar shows that 2013 election results are valid just like this result is valid. Or is it that elections are only fair if PTI wins??

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Common man

Oct 17, 2014 01:35am

Well Said

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Fawad

Oct 17, 2014 01:37am

So voters were fatigued and IK failed to get PTI voters out to vote yet the public still chose Dogar over the Great Hashmi in his own city backed by PMLN in their own province. Why cant this minister tell Nawa Sharif to review his style of politics? Why are these ministers making politically biased statements?

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Oct 17, 2014 01:38am

Crying foul.

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Qamar

Oct 17, 2014 01:40am

Must this man be in the headlines everyday?

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Ahmed

Oct 17, 2014 01:48am

in general election 2013 Amir Dogar got 20,703 as PPP candidate. as an independent candidate with PTI support he got 57,972. his support increased by 30k. Hashmi who won in 2013 general election with 83,569 votes as a pti candidate but lost this time as an independent candidate with pmn support & got 47,500. Hashmi support decreased by 40k. this proves that its pmln which is losing.

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Aasim Malik

Oct 17, 2014 01:50am

Is this the interpretation of election result by Minister of Information...Really!!! Hashmi lost ...i.e. defeat for PM and PML-N...fair and square!

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ali

Oct 17, 2014 01:51am

people are tired of system that Nawaz and this minister has brought by ruling through rigged election. For heaven sake, please bring electoral reforms, be honest and let the will of the people govern the country for better.

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LOL

Oct 17, 2014 01:51am

This guy is a disgrace!

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Junaid

Oct 17, 2014 01:54am

I guess it is a good thing both him and his party PMLn are in a denial phase. Let them stay there.

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Mubin Zahir

Oct 17, 2014 02:04am

Maybe low voter turnout is due to a lack of confidence in the electoral process. Until people can be guaranteed that their vote is actually worth something these sham elections are just a futile exercise.

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Canada

Oct 17, 2014 02:11am

lol, I love how people twist things. I think it means the opposite, that they are fed up of the usual, PML and want change, thats why they voted for change. He is probably saying this rubbish because he is afraid that this by-election is the beginning of the end. Had Hashmi won then he would have said "this shows people are fed up of PTI"

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Khawaja

Oct 17, 2014 02:12am

Such a twisted logic. Heads I win, tails you lose. Take a walk, please.

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Iqbal

Oct 17, 2014 02:13am

This is an interpretation of the situation in its own favour to boost the downing morale of PMLn

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Wewillwin

Oct 17, 2014 02:33am

Mirza ghalib said in one of his poetry "sharam tum ko magar naheen aati"

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John

Oct 17, 2014 02:35am

Khusiani billi, Khamba nochay!

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Jawad

Oct 17, 2014 02:38am

So I guess if Hashmi had won with 80-90000 votes that would have shown what?? The fact--- it was a bye poll on a working day. And Hashmi lost with a big margin. Also suggests one more thing---- if PPP and PMLN and JI don't have a joint candidate against next time - it will be difficult for them to win. It's PTI vs the rest -- ATLEAST for now. If PPP candidate was not running I guess those votes were going to PTI also or to no one

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amad

Oct 17, 2014 02:44am

Grapes are sour.

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Amir Saeed

Oct 17, 2014 02:45am

In denial??

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shuaib

Oct 17, 2014 03:06am

Nice spin Pervaiz sahab.

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gaz

Oct 17, 2014 03:21am

Seriously what planet is this guy on. Harshmi who totally dominated the seat for decades gets a wooping when a few months back everyone thought he would win easily and he got this beating because he was being backed by PML-N and yet they somehow they spin that off as a positive for the government. I shouldn't but I cannot stop laughing at how stupid these guys are.

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Dystopia

Oct 17, 2014 03:23am

Or maybe the voter doesn't believe that a fair election can take place under this system anyways. Kudos to those who turned up today though!

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Faisal Shafiq

Oct 17, 2014 03:26am

The only thing this by election confirms is that PTI would beat PMLN in a fair election.

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just_someone

Oct 17, 2014 03:31am

Hahaha, this is an excellent example of 'chat bhi meri, pat bhi meri aur anta meray baap ka!'

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O Sayed

Oct 17, 2014 03:35am

Accept your candidate's defeat !

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Save pakistan

Oct 17, 2014 03:38am

hahaha... Strange remarks by the minister. They want to save their skin by saying that the people are not interested in the election. These corrupt politicians need to be thrown away

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archana

Oct 17, 2014 03:41am

What nonesense. Losers.

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voter

Oct 17, 2014 04:02am

It also shows that you will lose election if you go to poll now.

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Oct 17, 2014 04:17am

Pathetic losers!! They know their end is very near.

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iftikhar

Oct 17, 2014 04:43am

Mr rashid i think that call "Khasyani bili khamba nochay" loser.

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Muhammad Wadood

Oct 17, 2014 05:21am

PM should resign, the low turn out is not due to fatigue. It's because there were no contestant from PTI and people are fed up of voting for the parties taking turns.

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shabut

Oct 17, 2014 05:32am

It is your fault for not accepting the reality Mr. Rashid. Your Govt. has utterly failed to handle any situation. The longer you keep your eyes closed the easier it would be to get rid of you so keep on ignoring.

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shabut

Oct 17, 2014 05:34am

@Zahid: Name me any singly party which did not say the 2013 elections were massively rigged. If you are a sane person just give one name.

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shabut

Oct 17, 2014 05:36am

“The low voter turnout shows that it is fatigued and is in no mood for fresh General Election in the country.” If we use your logic then PTI has won this election, does this mean your Govt. should step down then Mr. Rashid? You are making no sense. You can not make fool of people anymore.

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Khalid Kaleemi

Oct 17, 2014 05:40am

Parvez Rashid, the grapes are sour, you have no moral courage to accept that people have given their mandate for a change, voters are not like before, they are now making well thought decisions and they have rejected Javed Hashmi, and in a way PML-N.

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Zoab Khan

Oct 17, 2014 05:57am

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet ur Information minister. Lost, confused can't put 2 sentences that make any sense.

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Mirza

Oct 17, 2014 06:12am

U know this guy is da next one to go whenever I hear his comments he just makes me laugh. Like who r u kidding.

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Bonkers

Oct 17, 2014 06:19am

This guy is messed up in the head!

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Adil Asghar

Oct 17, 2014 06:29am

With all respects to the honorable Minister statistically one by-election doesn't mean that the whole 2013 election was fair and above board the only way to have fair elections is to have total media coverage and exit polls also non intimidation of the voters by the criminal elements and non intimidation and closing down or pressing criminal charges against media for giving true and unbiased coverage.

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ZeeTee

Oct 17, 2014 06:53am

The fact that PTI is now happy with Dogar and has replaced Hashmi with Dogar shows the open hypocritical behaviour of the party - one by one all the talk slogans of PTI of being different and clean fall down - let this run for another four years and they will the same as any one else with a poor performance in KPK as well

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Umair

Oct 17, 2014 07:26am

People are smart. They will kick out those who don't perform. PPP got only 6,000 votes ! Imran khan must be patient and let system weed out the people who don't perform.

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Fawad

Oct 17, 2014 07:26am

Low turn out shows people are losing confidence in the election system of Pakistan.

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N. Rahim

Oct 17, 2014 07:33am

@Fawad You mean politically baseless statements

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amber usman

Oct 17, 2014 07:40am

Fully endorse @Hamood

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ASK

Oct 17, 2014 08:11am

I guess he should be called "Misinformation Minister" Living in a fools' paradise

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Rameez Khan

Oct 17, 2014 08:22am

I read the entire article, who voted for this man? he needs to take public interaction and statement making classes before he represents the nation as a senior person !!! the good part i see after reading the comments to these article is that people have started following politics to the level in which they can comment on right and wrong ! high five to all the followers ! the only thing as a nation that we can do is decide whats right and whats wrong for the country and act accordingly and refrain from any loose comments and debates as seen on most of the TV shows these days... i hope the best for our country ! LONG LIVE PAKISTAN ! Cheers

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Pakistani

Oct 17, 2014 12:10pm

@Aasim Malik What an illogical comment by the Minister of Disinformation which is devoid of any sense. Dogar got around 20000 votes as PPP candidate in 2013 election, and now as PTI supported candidate he has got around 58000 votes. But PMLN is not willing to accept defeat gracefully.

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saad saeed

Oct 17, 2014 12:31pm

Is he in his senses?

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Azam Khan

Oct 17, 2014 07:30pm

@ZeeTee, You have no clue of what is progress id taking place in KPK. Visit the relevant websites and your eyes will open wide. Just criticising unnecessarily makes no sense. My dear brother PTI has made big strides in KPK. They are not for Jangla buses to win the next election. They are working on the infrastructure for the next generation.

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A Ali

Oct 17, 2014 07:42pm

i guess pervez rasheed should not talk about IK ........ instead he should focus ( if he can ) on what the govt is doing (if at all ).

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Oct 17, 2014 10:28pm

@Ace Lol! :D

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