(Publish from Houston Texas USA)
(By Mian Iftikhar Ahmad)
Faisalabad : By-elections were conducted today in six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly constituencies across Pakistan, including five in Punjab and one in Haripur. The National Assembly seats included NA-18 Haripur, NA-96 Faisalabad, NA-104 Faisalabad, NA-129 Lahore, NA-143 Sahiwal, and NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan. The Punjab Assembly constituencies were PP-73 Sargodha, PP-87 Mianwali, PP-98 Faisalabad, PP-115 Faisalabad, PP-116 Faisalabad, PP-203 Sahiwal, and PP-269 Muzaffargarh. In most constituencies, PML-N candidates faced strong competition from independent candidates.
The most heated contest took place in NA-18 Haripur, where the seat had fallen vacant after the disqualification of Omar Ayub. PTI-supported candidate Shehrnaz, the wife of Omar Ayub, was in a tight race against PML-N candidate Babar Nawaz Khan. In NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan, coalition partners also came face-to-face as PML-N’s Qadir Khosa competed against PPP’s Dost Muhammad Khosa.
In NA-129 Lahore, PML-N’s Hafiz Nauman was up against independent candidate Arsalan Ahmed. In Faisalabad, NA-96 witnessed a tough contest between PML-N’s Bilal Badr Chaudhry and the party’s former candidate Nawab Sher Waseer, who was contesting independently. In NA-104, PML-N’s Raja Daniyal faced independent candidate Rana Adnan, while NA-143 Sahiwal saw a contest between PML-N’s Tufail Jutt and independent candidate Zarrar Akbar Chaudhry.
Several violations of the Election Commission’s code of conduct were reported throughout the day, particularly in Faisalabad. In NA-104 and PP-115, voters were seen taking photos of their ballots and posting them online. A serious violation occurred in NA-96 when a female voter attempted to take the ballot paper out of the polling booth. At the women’s polling station in Chak No. 61, security staff and polling officials appeared unaware of the incident.
Another breach surfaced when a voter recorded a video inside the polling booth. Police detained Muhammad Kaleem, a resident of Chak No. 192, after he filmed himself casting his vote and shared the video on social media. According to the District Returning Officer, violating ballot secrecy and taking a ballot paper outside the polling station are criminal offenses. A similar violation occurred in NA-185 Dera Ghazi Khan, where a voter posted a picture after casting a vote for a particular candidate.
Turnout remained very low in both National and Provincial Assembly constituencies in Faisalabad. In PP-98, mosque announcements were made to urge voters to visit polling stations and cast their ballots.
Overall, the by-elections were marked by low voter turnout, repeated violations of electoral rules, breaches of ballot secrecy, and negligence by polling staff. Despite these issues, polling remained largely peaceful, and the final results are awaited to determine the political implications.
