ECP withholds notification of Imran's victory in two constituencies
Notifications of Imran's success in NA-53 (Islamabad) and NA-131 (Lahore) have been withheld, ECP clarified
August 07, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) withheld on Tuesday the notification of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairperson Imran Khan's success in two constituencies.
The notification of Imran's success in NA-53 (Islamabad) and NA-131 (Lahore) has been withheld, the ECP confirmed.
Imran, who is expected to become the next prime minister, had made history by emerging victorious on five National Assembly seats in the General Election 2018.
From NA-53 (Islamabad), Imran had defeated former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The PTI chief had received 92,891 votes while the PML-N leader managed to get 44,314 votes.
However, the notification of Imran's success has been withheld as a case pertaining to violation to ECP's code of conduct is being heard against him.
On July 25, ECP had taken notice of Imran Khan casting his vote in front of media personnel, which was in direct violation of the electoral body's code of conduct.
The toughest competition for Imran came from Lahore constituency NA-131 where he was up against PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique.
The notification for NA-131 (Lahore) success was withheld as Lahore High Court has reserved its verdict on former railways minister's plea for recounting of votes in the constituency.
In other three constituencies— NA-35 (Bannu), NA-243 (Karachi) and NA-95 (Mianwali)— notifications of Imran's success have been issued but shall be subject to the final decision of the Election Commission in the pending case of violation of the code of conduct.
From NA-35 (Bannu), MMA candidate Akram Durrani came second with 22,514 votes, while Imran had won with 24,317 votes.
From NA-243 (Karachi), Imran had defeated his opponent from MQM-P Ali Raza Abidi with a heavy margin, where the former got 91,358 votes, while the latter only managed to receive 24,082 votes.
From his home constituency in Mianwali, NA-95, Imran had defeated PML-N candidate Obaidullah Shadikhel. The PTI candidate won with 162,499 votes, while his opponent bagged merely 49,505 votes.
However, the ECP spokesperson clarified that the notification of Imran’s success in three constituencies will be cancelled if the electoral body’s rules against Imran.
Earlier in the day, ECP had issued notifications to newly-elected members of the national and provincial assemblies, according to a statement by the electoral body.
After a summary of issuing notifications to successful candidates was approved by the chief election commissioner, the documents were uploaded on the electoral body's website.
However, notifications of candidates belonging to constituencies whose results have been challenged in courts were withheld. The withheld notifications, 30 in total, will be issued after the verdicts of the cases are announced.
