Additional votes. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Voter turnout remained markedly subdued in the recent by-elections, with an overall turnout of just 28.58 percent in six National Assembly constituencies and seven provincial constituencies, according to official documents released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday.
The ECP data shows a stark contrast in electoral engagement between constituencies, with only a handful recording relatively robust turnout rates.
NA-18 Haripur emerged as the best performing constituency in the country, recording a turnout of 50.82 per cent, almost double the national total.
In comparison, other seats in the National Assembly reported significantly lower turnout.
NA-185 recorded a turnout of 32.61 percent, NA-96 Faisalabad 26.46 percent, NA-143 Sahiwal 21.43 percent and NA-129 Lahore saw only 18.67 percent of registered voters cast their ballots.
The lowest voting activity among National Assembly seats was seen in NA-104 Faisalabad constituency, where turnout dropped to 13.23 percent, according to the documents.
Provincial by-elections reflected a similar downward trend, albeit with slightly better engagement in some pockets. PP-269 Muzaffargarh tied Haripur with a turnout of 50.82 per cent, making it the most active constituency among the provincial constituencies.
It was followed by PP-98 Faisalabad at 36.82 percent, PP-73 Sargodha at 34.45 percent and PP-87 Mianwali at 27 percent.
Meanwhile, PP-116 Faisalabad recorded 22.94 percent, PP-203 Sahiwal 22.4 percent and the remaining seats were below the already discouraging national average.
Winning all the seats, the ruling PML-N secured nearly 64 percent of the total votes in the by-elections in six National Assembly constituencies held on Sunday.
Five constituencies were located in Punjab and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats, except one, were vacated due to the disqualification of opposition PTI MPs.
The PML-N collected 564,400 votes out of a total of 883,108, or 63.91% of the votes cast for the six seats in the National Assembly. In a surprising result, the PML-N also wrested the NA-18 (Haripur, KP) seat from the PTI against all odds. Political analysts were hoping that at least this seat would be retained by the PTI due to certain factors, including the fact that KP is ruled by the PTI, so there was little chance of rigging in the constituency.
The wife of former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, was contesting against the little-known Babar Nawaz Khan of the PML-N.
Likewise, the PML-N won from the PTI the seat of NA-129 (Lahore-XIII), vacated after the death of MP Miaz Azhar, former governor of Punjab and father of PTI leader Hammad Azhar. Mr Azhar’s nephew Arsalan faced Hafiz Nauman of the PML-N here. Both represented the Arain clan, which constitutes the majority of voters in the constituency.
The PML-N won six of the seven Punjab Assembly seats in the province by securing 82.41 per cent of the votes polled.
