ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday set November 23 as the new polling date for by-elections in two National Assembly and one provincial assembly constituencies in Punjab.

One of these constituencies is in Lahore — the hometown of PM Shehbaz Sharif — and another in Mianwali, the hometown of former prime minister Imran Khan.

These constituencies include NA-129 (Lahore), NA-65 (Wazirabad), and PP-87 (Mianwali).

The by-elections in all three constituencies were initially scheduled for Sept 18, according to a schedule issued on July 29, but were postponed due to flood-related issues in Punjab.

“….the Commission, after taking into consideration the prevailing situation, has concluded that due to non-availability of polling staff, the requisite number of law enforcement personnel, damaged infrastructure, and the disenfranchisement of voters due to displacement, election cannot be conducted with the optimum level of security as mandated under Article 218(3) of the Constitution.

The Commission, in ex­­e­rcise of powers under Sec­tion 58 of the Elections Act, 2017, read with Articles 218(3) and 254 of the Constitution, hereby postpones the election programme of above-mentioned constituencies. It shall resume from the stage at which it was postponed once the situation normalises in the public interest, an order issued by the ECP on Sept 4 stated.

Under the same order, polls for nine National and provincial assembly costituencies were postponed.

The seat for NA-129 (La­­­hore) fell vacant following the death of former Pun­jab governor Mian Azhar, while the seats for NA-65 (Wazirabad) and PP-87 (Mianwali) became vac­a­­nt due to the disqualification of Ahmad Chatta, MNA, and Ahmad Khan, respectively.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2025