PML-N officially notified as victor in PP-7 Rawalpindi by-election

• PML-N's Raja Sagheer Ahmed bags 68,918 votes.
• PTI’s Shabbir Awan receives 68,863 votes.
• ECP dismisses PTI’s plea, seeking a recount.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Friday morning notified PML-N's Raja Sagheer Ahmed as the victor in the by-election from the PP-7 Rawalpindi constituency.

The ECP notification comes just hours before the crucial Punjab chief minister election, where the odds seem to be in PTI and PML-Q’s joint candidate, Pervez Elahi's, favour — but the PML-N is adamant about all “political options” they have to keep chief minister Hamza Shahbaz in power.

After the verification process was completed, the ECP issued the notification of the success of PML-N's Raja Sagheer from PP-7.

The election commission — on the orders of the Lahore High Court — held a hearing a day earlier as PTI’s candidate Shabbir Awan challenged the outcome of the PP-7 by-election result.

In its order, the ECP noted that the petitioner could not prove rigging in the by-election and also failed to prove the need to recount votes.

In the official result notification, the number of votes of the PML-N candidate increased by 12, taking the votes to 68,918 from 68,906, while the PTI votes increased by 6 to reach 68,863.

From all the 260 polling stations of the PP-7 constituency, according to unofficial results, Ahmed won 68,906 votes while Awan got 68,857 votes.

The CM Punjab election will take place today at 4pm, with the Opposition PTI being confident to pull off a victory, just like they did in the by-elections — winning 15 seats, while the PML-N won just four.

The PTI and PML-Q have a total of 186 seats, which is two more than the simple majority of 186 required to elect the chief minister, while the ruling coalition have 179 members — far below the required votes.