Pakistanis vote in bypolls for 13 seats amid tight security

Islamabad, Nov 23 (PTI) Voting is underway on Sunday in Pakistan for by-elections in 13 National Assembly and Punjab Assembly seats amid tight security.

Out of the 13 seats, six are for the National Assembly (NA) and seven are for the provincial seats.

Polling began at 8:00 am and will continue without a break till 5:00 pm, according to the polling schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Most seats were declared vacant after the disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers, who were convicted for their alleged involvement in the May 9, 2023, attacks on military and civilian installations protesting the arrest of their party chief, Imran Khan.

The NA constituencies are NA-96 (Faisalabad), NA-104 (Faisalabad), NA-129 (Lahore), NA-143 (Sahiwal) and NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan) from Punjab province and NA-18 (Haripur) from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The seven Punjab Assembly constituencies where by-polls are being held are PP-73 (Sargodha), PP-87 (Mianwali), PP-98 (Faisalabad), PP-115 (Faisalabad), PP-116 (Faisalabad), PP-203 (Sahiwal) and PP-269 (Muzaffargarh).

Punjab is the main battleground, and the authorities have deployed over 20,000 security personnel, including police, paramilitary Rangers, and army troops.

Under the ECP's code of conduct, armed forces have been deployed outside “most sensitive” polling stations. They will remain in quick-response mode at the remaining stations as third-tier responders.

One key contest is in NA-18 (Haripur). The vacancy arose after the disqualification of PTI lawmaker and its leader of opposition in the NA, Omar Ayub Khan, grandson of former military ruler Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

Omar’s wife, Shehrnaz Omar, is in the run, facing Babar Nawaz of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Another key constituency is NA-96 Faisalabad, where PML-N has fielded Muhammad Bilal Badar Chaudhry, brother of Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry.

NA-129 Lahore is also in cross-hairs, where the seat fell vacant after the death of former Punjab governor and PTI stalwart Mian Muhammad Azhar. His grandson Chaudhry Arsalan is now contesting the bypoll, who is being challenged by PML-N's Hafiz Mian Muhammad Noman.

Another interesting contest is at NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan, where Dost Muhammad Khosa of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PML-N's Mehmood Qadir Khan Laghari. The seat became vacant after PTI's Zartaj Gul was convicted.

Though the outcome of these bypolls is not going to impact the political set-up, analysts say it will provide an interesting barometer to evaluate the popularity of the ruling parties and their nemesis, PTI. PTI SH SCY SCY SCY