Results for the by-election to the NA-193 Rajanpur-I constituency, held earlier today (Sunday), have been compiled, and the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) Result Management System (RMS) reports that all of the polling stations have transmitted their results.
The unofficial and tentative results from all 237 polling stations show PTI candidate Mohsin Leghari having won with 90,392 votes. Ammar Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) received 55,218 votes, while Akhtar Gorchani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) managed to secure 20,074 votes. The Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan's (TLP) Mahmood Ahmad managed to get 3,961 votes.
Mohsin Leghari was expected to win the Rajanpur by-election with a decisive margin. Winning by 35,174 votes approximates to more than 9% of the total eligible votes in the NA-193 constituency.
Modest turnout, mild enthusiasm among voters
According to the ECP, voting began at 8am local time and went on uninterrupted till 5pm. A control room had been set up at ECP headquarters to oversee the by-election and handle concerns about the polling process. The ECP had also prohibited news outlets from publishing the results before 6pm local time today.
The voter turnout in Rajanpur was estimated at a modest 47.15%.
Speaking to The Friday Times (TFT), Kareem Ahmed Gorchani, a local farmer from Jampur, said that, “me and my family voted for Mohsin Leghari because he is not only the political scion of Jaffar Leghari who was there for us through thick and thin but he also fought the case for the creating of Jampur district during Parvez Elahi’s tenure.”
Agreeing with him, Ghulam Bibi, a 46-year-old widow, told TFT that Mohsin Leghari had left no stone unturned in addressing the problems faced by the people of Jampur and other areas of the constituency during PTI’s tenure. “He is a son of the soil and was always there for us in the need of the hour,” she concluded.
Tribal politics of Rajanpur
The NA-193 Rajanpur-I national assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Jaffar Leghari, a reputed political personality of the area who had been elected to the legislative seat a record five times. The constituency is a tribal seat on which close relatives were fighting against each other.
“Mohsin Leghari had the edge because he had PTI’s ticket and he was also declared the political heir of Jaffar Leghari who had won this seat record five times,” a local tribal leader said. He added that Mohsin was expected to win this seat with a "comfortable margin", but Ammar Leghari and Akhtar Hassan Gorchani also conducted their election campaigns "pretty well".
Political pundits said that it was Jaffar Leghari’s seat, and his political heir was up against a close relative from his own tribe. “Mohsin was expected to win after he was made the political heir of Jaffar Leghari by the family elders,” sources said.
Challenge for PMLN
A local journalist who has covered elections in south Punjab for decades told TFT that PMLN has yet to come up with better candidates from the grassroots level. He was of the view that PMLN must award tickets to someone who might be new but from amongst the people, in order to counter the popularity of Imran Khan.
“Maryam Nawaz has to revisit the strategy for the upcoming elections and has to award party tickets on merit if they want to save the party in the upcoming elections. Otherwise, the trend in all recent elections shows that PMLN is on the decline and would be wiped out in the next general elections,” a local leader of the Khosa tribe said.
General elections in Pakistan
This by-election could be seen as a prelude to the grander electoral contest that Pakistan has to constitutionally prepare for in 2023. Elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are due sometime in early April, but the matter is sub judice at the Supreme Court (SC). General elections are expected in October 2023, as the incumbent national assembly's tenure expires on 12 August this year.
But the country is grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis, compounded by the rising threat of terror attacks by Taliban militants and Baloch separatists. Holding general elections in such volatile conditions, without adequate security guarantees that the people can exercise their right to franchise freely and without fear, is a question that concerns many in Pakistan and abroad.
Former premier and PTI chairman Imran Khan has long argued that elections are the only way out of the mess Pakistan is currently in. However, there is no clarity on whether any election outcome would be considered fair, or be acceptable to all participants, therefore elections in and of themselves are unlikely to be the solution to any of Pakistan's problems.
The unofficial and tentative results from all 237 polling stations show PTI candidate Mohsin Leghari having won with 90,392 votes. Ammar Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) received 55,218 votes, while Akhtar Gorchani of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) managed to secure 20,074 votes. The Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan's (TLP) Mahmood Ahmad managed to get 3,961 votes.
Mohsin Leghari was expected to win the Rajanpur by-election with a decisive margin. Winning by 35,174 votes approximates to more than 9% of the total eligible votes in the NA-193 constituency.
Modest turnout, mild enthusiasm among voters
According to the ECP, voting began at 8am local time and went on uninterrupted till 5pm. A control room had been set up at ECP headquarters to oversee the by-election and handle concerns about the polling process. The ECP had also prohibited news outlets from publishing the results before 6pm local time today.
The voter turnout in Rajanpur was estimated at a modest 47.15%.
Speaking to The Friday Times (TFT), Kareem Ahmed Gorchani, a local farmer from Jampur, said that, “me and my family voted for Mohsin Leghari because he is not only the political scion of Jaffar Leghari who was there for us through thick and thin but he also fought the case for the creating of Jampur district during Parvez Elahi’s tenure.”
Agreeing with him, Ghulam Bibi, a 46-year-old widow, told TFT that Mohsin Leghari had left no stone unturned in addressing the problems faced by the people of Jampur and other areas of the constituency during PTI’s tenure. “He is a son of the soil and was always there for us in the need of the hour,” she concluded.
Tribal politics of Rajanpur
The NA-193 Rajanpur-I national assembly seat fell vacant after the death of Jaffar Leghari, a reputed political personality of the area who had been elected to the legislative seat a record five times. The constituency is a tribal seat on which close relatives were fighting against each other.
“Mohsin Leghari had the edge because he had PTI’s ticket and he was also declared the political heir of Jaffar Leghari who had won this seat record five times,” a local tribal leader said. He added that Mohsin was expected to win this seat with a "comfortable margin", but Ammar Leghari and Akhtar Hassan Gorchani also conducted their election campaigns "pretty well".
Political pundits said that it was Jaffar Leghari’s seat, and his political heir was up against a close relative from his own tribe. “Mohsin was expected to win after he was made the political heir of Jaffar Leghari by the family elders,” sources said.
Challenge for PMLN
A local journalist who has covered elections in south Punjab for decades told TFT that PMLN has yet to come up with better candidates from the grassroots level. He was of the view that PMLN must award tickets to someone who might be new but from amongst the people, in order to counter the popularity of Imran Khan.
“Maryam Nawaz has to revisit the strategy for the upcoming elections and has to award party tickets on merit if they want to save the party in the upcoming elections. Otherwise, the trend in all recent elections shows that PMLN is on the decline and would be wiped out in the next general elections,” a local leader of the Khosa tribe said.
General elections in Pakistan
This by-election could be seen as a prelude to the grander electoral contest that Pakistan has to constitutionally prepare for in 2023. Elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are due sometime in early April, but the matter is sub judice at the Supreme Court (SC). General elections are expected in October 2023, as the incumbent national assembly's tenure expires on 12 August this year.
But the country is grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis, compounded by the rising threat of terror attacks by Taliban militants and Baloch separatists. Holding general elections in such volatile conditions, without adequate security guarantees that the people can exercise their right to franchise freely and without fear, is a question that concerns many in Pakistan and abroad.
Former premier and PTI chairman Imran Khan has long argued that elections are the only way out of the mess Pakistan is currently in. However, there is no clarity on whether any election outcome would be considered fair, or be acceptable to all participants, therefore elections in and of themselves are unlikely to be the solution to any of Pakistan's problems.