The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is all set to form government in the Centre as it has bagged 115 of 270 seats on which general elections were held on July 25, according to the preliminary results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a private TV channel reported on Friday.
The PML-N is a distant second, leading on 64 seats, while the PPP has won 43. The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) — an alliance of multiple religious parties —has managed to secure just 13 seats.
Independent candidates have won 12 seats in the National Assembly, while the MQM-P has six seats. The PML-Q, meanwhile, has won four seats, and the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have grabbed two seats each.
The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has three seats, while Sheikh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League (AML) and Awami National Party (ANP) each have one seat.
The national voter turnout for the polls was 51.85 per cent, an additional director of the ECP announced in a press conference. He added that the turnout in Balochistan stood at 44.79 per cent, in KP 45.52 percent, in Punjab 55.9 per cent and in Sindh 48.11 per cent.
Despite performing poorly nationwide, the PML-N has emerged as the largest political party in Punjab with 127 seats, followed by the PTI which has won 123 seats. Independent candidates have won 29 seats in the province, while PML-Q has secured seven seats.
The PPPP has won only six seats in Punjab while PML-F, Jamshed Dasti’s Awami Raj Party and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have won a seat each, according to the ECP.
The PPPP appears set to form government in Sindh for the third consecutive term. The party has won 74 seats in the Sindh Assembly while the PTI has edged past MQM-P to emerge as the second-largest political party with 23 seats to its name – mostly from Karachi. MQM-P is in the third position with 16 seats while GDA – a newly formed alliance of parties in the province – has won 11 seats. Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and MMA have won one seat each.
The BAP has won 14 seats in Balochistan Assembly, becoming the largest party in the province, while the MMA is in the second place with nine seats.
Akhtar Mengal’s BNP has won five seats in the province while the PTI has won four seats.
The PTI dominated electoral proceedings in KP, bagging a whopping 67 seats, followed by the MMA which has managed to win only 10 seats. The ANP’s seat tally stands at six while the PML-N has won five seats. The PPPP has won four seats in the KP Assembly.
Published in Daily Times, July 28th 2018.
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