ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ruling party under new prime minister Imran Khan has maintained its slim majority in parliament after key by-elections, final results showed on Monday.
Imaran’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 15 seats of the total 36 on offer in polls held across the country on Sunday, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Its ally the Pakistan Muslim League, one of several parties with which it has formed a coalition government, won an additional two seats, bringing the coalition’s total in the national assembly — the lower house of parliament — to 177 out of 342.
The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) increased its seat count to 85.
The by-elections come after a national vote on July 25 propelled former World Cup cricketer Imran Khan to power, an outcome that was rejected by the main opposition parties.
Political analysts say Imran’s popularity has suffered due to tough decisions his government has had to take to tackle an economic crisis, including seeking a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Most of the national assembly seats had been open as Pakistan allows candidates to run in multiple constituencies, but keep only one seat.
The general election — dubbed “Pakistan’s dirtiest” — had been criticised by the United States, the European Union and other observers after widespread claims that the powerful military was trying to fix the playing field in Imran’s favour.
WIDOW WINS
The wife of a Pakistani politician killed in a Taliban suicide attack during campaigning won her husband’s provincial seat in by-elections.
Samar Bilour won the provincial assembly seat in northwestern Khyber Pakthunkhwa province that her husband Haroon Bilour, a member of the anti-Taliban Awani National Party, had been scheduled to contest in July.
Haroon Bilour was killed along with 19 others in a suicide attack in Peshawar, the provincial capital, claimed by the Pakistani Taliban weeks before the July 25 polls. The attack prompted a delay in voting for that seat.
His father, senior ANP leader Bashir Bilour, was killed in a suicide bombing in the run-up to Pakistan’s last election in 2013.
BORDER CROSSING CLOSED
One of the two major border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been closed after clashes between their armies, leaving thousands of people stranded on both sides. The Chamman border crossing was closed on Sunday following an intense exchange of fire between Pakistani and Afghan soldiers that lasted for several hours.
The clashes erupted after Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani soldiers when they were trying to erect a fence on the disputed border between the two countries.
“Our troops came under fire from Afghan side,” said Khan Wasseh, spokesman for Pakistan’s Frontier Constabulary force, which mans the border.
Ahmad Zia Durani, a police spokesman in Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak region, confirmed the clashes and the closure of the border.— dpa
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