PML-N to consult coalition partners after Punjab by-polls defeat

• PML-N has always accepted people’s decisions, says Khawaja Saad Rafique.
  
• We have saved country from default by putting our politics at stake, says PML-N leader.
  
• Federal minister lambasts PTI chairman Imran Khan for levelling false rigging allegations.

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique on Sunday said that the PML-N, following PTI's victory in the Punjab by-polls, would decide the next course of action in consultation with allied parties.

PTI won in at least 15 out of 20 constituencies, according to unofficial results, while PML-N only clinched victory in three. An independent candidate defeated a PTI candidate in one, while a close contest for a Rawalpindi seat was underway early Monday morning.

"We will hold a meeting with allied parties to decide what to do next," Rafique said, in a late Sunday night press conference along with other PML-N leaders.

The federal minister said the meeting with all the coalition partners will take place tomorrow (Monday).

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a separate party meeting earlier on Sunday in Lahore.

Rafique said: “PML-N is a democratic party and has always accepted people’s decisions."

“We could have cried like Imran Khan but we will not do it,” he said.

The PML-N leader said that his party had "saved the country from default by putting its politics at stake", however, “we will continue our effort and will decide our next course of action very soon.”

He lambasted PTI Chairman Imran Khan for levelling false rigging allegations and said the election results have "proved Imran’s allegations about rigging false".

“The Punjab government remained neutral throughout the election process and no rigging was done by state institutions,” he said.