PML-N candidate leads in Bahawalpur by-election — Dawn
In Bahawalpur, Pakistan, Malik Munir Iqbal Channar, the candidate of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N), was leading in the National Assembly by-election in constituency NA-168 (Bahawalpur-V). According to unofficial results from most of the 292 polling stations, he received 62,713 votes, while independent candidate Wali Dad Cheema received 31,293, Dawn reports.
Race for the vacant seat
The by-election was called after the death of National Assembly member Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar. PML-N nominated his son, Malik Munir Iqbal Channar, for the election. The unofficial count indicated that the ruling party’s candidate received nearly twice as many votes as his main rival.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said that Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Malik Munir Iqbal Channar and his brother Malik Zahir Iqbal Channar, the deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly, on their by-election victory. The statement also said that the result demonstrated Bahawalpur residents’ trust in PML-N.
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Incidents at polling stations
Voting in the constituency was generally peaceful, although there were reports of isolated cases of violence, organizational problems, confusion, and the absence of women voters’ lists at some polling stations. At a polling station in Akhtarabad, voting was briefly suspended after a fight between voters. According to the provincial election commissioner, this was preceded by the alleged harassment of election commission staff by political activists.
The election commissioner said that the situation was brought under control with police assistance by the District Returning Officer and the Returning Officer. Channar, for his part, claimed that people allegedly marking ballots in favor of his opponent were discovered during the incident. He also said that those people were removed from the polling station and that voting resumed after a several-hour break.
At another polling station, voters said that police officers did not allow people with identity documents listing addresses in the Yazman area, considered Cheema’s stronghold, to vote. Turnout was low in the morning, but the number of voters, including women, increased after noon. Large numbers of voters were observed at rural polling stations near Jhangiwali and Abbasnagar.
