FAISALABAD: The unofficial results from 375 polling stations across the constituency have shown a clear win for PML-N candidate Raja Daniyal in the by-election of NA-104 Faisalabad, on Sunday.
As per the non-final and unofficial count, the number of votes that Raja Daniyal got was 52,684 and that of the independent candidate Rana Adnan Javed who came second was 18,848, only.
The electorate for the by-poll was also the citizens of six other National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly constituencies. Under strict security, polling began on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and went on till 5:00 p.m.
The voting concluded at 5:00 p.m. when the doors of all the polling stations were shut. Only those voters who were already present inside the polling stations were given the opportunity to cast their ballots.
The Pakistan Army was also working with the civil armed forces who had been sent to keep the peace after the Ministry of Interior, following a request from the Election Commission, had given its green light.
The official results will be declared soon by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Chief Election Commissioner says by-elections peaceful, low turnout expected
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 said that reports from District Returning Officers (DROs) have been received and some issues have been taken suo motu by the commission. Besides that, it was informed that no extraordinary complaints were reported during the by-election 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.
ALSO READ: PakhtunDigital survey proves accurate as PML-N leads in NA-18 Haripur by-poll
