Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, routed the ruling coalition in Punjab byelections Sunday, local media reported.
The Pakistani media reports that the massive alliance between Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is close to defeat.
In only two seats does PLM-N lead, and one seat is held by an independent.
The PTI party controlled Punjab until April, when then-Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar resigned after a no-confidence motion against Khan was passed in the federal parliament.
The PTI’s subsequent nominee for the position was defeated as a faction among the party’s state lawmakers voted for the PML-N’s candidate instead.
Khan then successfully petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan to remove the state assembly lawmakers for illegally voting against the party’s directive, leaving 20 seats vacant.
It will be a close race as Sharif’s party currently holds 165 seats while PTI controls 163. Sharif controls the assembly with coalition members.
The Punjab Assembly has a total of 371 members, of which 20 seats are vacant at the moment, bringing the total number of MPAs in the Punjab Assembly down to 351.