ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja expressed his satisfaction that the by-elections were held peacefully, in a statement on Sunday. He said that low voter turnout is a feature of such elections and can be explained by various factors.
When talking to the press at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad, he acknowledged the good work done by the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to facilitate the polling process.
The Chief Election Commissioner further said that by-elections did not hold such major fights that could change the political scenario, thus lessening the interest of people and their turnout.
Checking on complaints, the Chief Election Commissioner told that reports from District Returning Officers (DROs) have been received and some issues have been taken suo motu by the commission. Besides that, it informed that no extraordinary complaints were reported during the by-elections period. In addition, it was mentioned that a summons has been served to PTI leader Talal Chaudhry for his hearing today.
Sikandar Sultan Raja cited the example of local government elections where code of conduct breaches had been the cause of the disqualification of a minister and a candidate, thus stressing that all moves follow a legal framework. Besides that, he made a point that election violations are common all over the world, and as a result, the ECP sends recommendations to the government from time to time. Moreover, he explained that the commission is not authorized to give directions to tribunals.
NA-18 by-poll: PML-N’s Babar Nawaz takes strong lead after 447 results
Babar Nawaz Khan of the PML-N is leading with a clear and comfortable margin of victory in the by-election of NA-18 Haripur, as per the unofficial results of 447 polling stations.
As per the unconfirmed results compiled so far, Babar Nawaz Khan is keeping a very firm grip on the vote counts from the areas that have not yet reported their final tally. This time the constituency, which is known for its electoral competition, witnessed an upsurge of voters as they went to cast their votes earlier today.
The counting of ballots is not yet complete, and the office of the Returning Officer (RO) is anticipated to come up with the final consolidated results after cross-checking all Form-45 entries with the Result Management System (RMS).
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