The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday notified the results of the by-polls held on October 16 on all seats except for the six NA seats won by former prime minister Imran Khan, who was disqualified in Toshakhana reference last week.

The by-elections were held on eight NA seats including seven abandoned by the PTI this April and three PA seats.

According to the list issued by the electoral body today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, PML-N’s Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed has clinched the PP-139 seat from Sheikhupura, while PTI’s Muhammad Faisal Khan and Malik Muhammad Muzaffar Khan emerged victories in the constituencies PP-209 (Khanewal VII) and PP-241 (Bahawalnagar V), respectively.

Meanwhile, PPP’s Syed Ali Musa Gillani and Abdul Hakeem Baloch won from the NA-157 (Multan IV) and NA-237 (Malir II) constituencies.

Imran Khan de-notified as MNA

In another notification issued later in the day, the ECP de-notified PTI chief Imran Khan as MNA from constituency NA-95 of Mianwali I with “immediate effect” following his disqualification in the Toshakhana Reference.

The ECP on Friday disqualified the former premier in the Toshakhana reference under Article 63(1)(p) for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”, triggering protests in various cities.

In today’s notification, it said that the decision on de-seating Imran was taken in terms of Article 63 of the Constitution. The law states: “A person shall be disqualified from being elected or chosen as, and from being, a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), if he is for the time being disqualified from being elected or chosen as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) or of a Provincial Assembly under any law for the time being in force.”

The notification also stated that the decision was taken under articles 137 (Submission of statement of assets and liabilities), 167 (Corrupt practice), and 173 (Making or publishing a false statement or declaration) of the Elections Act 2017.

The electoral body’s decision hours after Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that Imran had not been barred from contesting in future elections following the verdict in the Toshakhana reference against him, adding that the former premier “won’t face any problems” to contest in the NA-45 (Kurram-I) by-election scheduled to be held on Oct 30.

NA-45 was one of the four NA constituencies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where polling for by-elections was originally scheduled for Oct 16, but the ECP postponed it. It later issued a notification for holding the polls in the constituency on Oct 30.

Imran will contest for the NA-45 Kurram seat besides Jamil Khan of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Sher Mohammad Khan of Jamaat-i-Islami and several independent candidates.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...