LAHORE: The unofficial results in the NA-120 by-elections show Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as clear winners.
According to unofficial results from more than 200 polling stations, PML-N achieved victory with 61,254 votes, while PTI’s Dr Yasmin came second with 47,066 votes.
Polling for the NA-120 by-election started on Sunday at 8am across 220 polling stations in the provincial capital.
Following Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification on July 28, which was seen as a vindication of PTI’s position on the Panama Papers, this by-election has become a litmus test for both parties’ fortunes on the road to the general election next year.
Some 44 contestants are taking part but key contestants are Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Kulsoom Nawaz, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Yasmin Rashid and Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Faisal Mir.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has printed 350,000 ballot papers for the constituency’s 324,786, including 179,642 male and 142,144 female, registered voters.
LIVE UPDATES:
06:59: Vote counting is underway, official results will be announced in an hour or so.
06:41: Yasmin Rashid reaches ECP, says she will ask the ECP to verify the polling results no matter what the outcome is.
05:30: Extra security measures in place at ECP building.
05:17: PTI says polling time shouldn’t be extended.
05:11: PML-N leader and Federal Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique urges ECP to extend polling time. Voters shouldn’t be deprived of their right to vote, says the minister.
05:09: Polling time is over but still long queues reported outside the polling stations.
5:00: Polling in the constituency concludes but the voters inside the polling stations can still cast their votes.
04:00: After meeting Nawaz Sharif in London, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif says they are reviewing reports of rigging.
03:40: The ECP’s additional DG says the polling will cease at 5pm per schedule and time will not be extended.
03:00: Videos appear on social media, accusing army personnel of barring PML-N voters from entering into the polling stations.
02:45: PML-N workers and police clash at a polling station near Bilal Gunj-Band Road junction after police stopped the party workers from proceeding towards the polling station.
02:30: Rangers, police control situation following a clash between the PTI and PML-N workers outside Fatima Jinnah Medical College polling station. Several people have been reportedly arrested by police.
02:14: PTI candidate Dr Yasmin visits polling station at UC 48 Malipura.
02:00: Polling underway at Government College for Women, Band Road.
01:50: Scuffle breaks out between police and PTI workers at Gaoun Shala polling station. Police had stopped PTI workers from proceeding towards the polling station.
01:22: PTI General Secretary Jehangir Tareen and Punjab Organiser Aleem Khan visit the polling station at Ravi Road to review polling process.
01:00: Yasmin Rashid, the PTI candidate, says over 29,000 votes cannot be verified and that the list of voters shared with the party is not complete.
12:15: PTI, PML- N resort to sloganeering against each other at Cooper Road polling station, while police, Rangers and army stop TV channels from interviewing the party workers.
12:06: Saba Sadiq talks to Pakistan Today, says the lion will roar, while rejecting Faisal Mir’s allegations of rigging.
12:30: The ECP secretary calls the Punjab IG, asks the elected representatives to be barred from entering polling stations.
12:00: Saba Sadiq of PML-N visits Prem Nagar Polling Station.
11:50: PTI and PML-N workers clash at Union Council 68, polling station 61, after PTI leader Saima Shaukat accuses PML-N of rigging. The army personnel stops the clash from escalating.
11:45: PTI leader Firdous Awan speaks to a private TV channel and says ECP was unsuccessful in stopping pre-poll rigging.
11:39: PTI Chairman Imran Khan urges people to come out and vote.
NA 120 elec today will decide future course of our nation & our coming generations. Every voter must come out & vote #BallayPeThappa
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 17, 2017
11:30: Pak Army soldier orders PTI, PML-N to stop sloganeering at the polling station 103, Mazang Adda.
11:20: PTI, PML-N workers chant slogans against each other at Fatima Jinnah polling station.
11:15: Our correspondent, Ihsan Qadir, reported that the Pak Army has allowed media-men, having ECP cards to visit the station for five minutes as per the directions of Headquarters.
11:10: A boy riding a motorcycle is reported injured after being struck by a PML-N supporter’s vehicle in front of Fatima Jinnah Medical College.
11:00: Polling smoothly underway at Government Rafa-e-Aama Girls School, Mazang.
10:50: PTI complains that they have not been provided the complete voter lists.
10:45: PTI polling agents expelled from the polling station in PP-139.
10:30: Punjab Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir has filed a complaint with the returning officer regarding an hour’s delay in polling in some areas.
10:00: Lines start forming in front of some polling stations after the lower turnout witnessed early morning when the polling started.
09:45: Milli Muslim League’s activists along with the new party’s candidate Sheikh Yaqoob gather at Cooper Road.
09:25: PML-N and PTI workers barred from chanting slogans against each other at Cooper Road polling station.
09:00: The ECP has placed 100 biometric voting machines at 39 polling stations in the constituency.
08:50: Our correspondent, Samiullah Randhawa, reported that polling started with a delay of 40 minutes at Fatima Jinnah Medical University, where five polling stations are constituted.
08:45: Punjab Food Minister Bilal Yasin reprimands policemen at a polling station for ‘unnecessarily’ creating issues with voters’ documents.
08:18: PPP candidate Faisal Mir, while talking to Pakistan Today, accuses PTI and PML-N of rigging, referring to polling agents being barred from entering the polling stations.
08:00: Polling time begins at 220 polling stations across NA-120. Our correspondent, Ihsan Qadir, reported that no one except voters being allowed inside the polling stations by Rangers and army personnel.
