PTI’s Yousafzai wins Shangla by-poll

—Shaukat secures 42,116 votes against PML-N’s Rashad Khan’s 22,315 votes according to unofficial results

SHANGLA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Shaukat Yousafzai has secured victory in the PK-23 Shangla by-polls on Monday.

Yousufzai secured 42,116 votes against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Muhammad Rashad Khan, who bagged 22,315 votes, according to unofficial results from all 135 polling stations in the constituency.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had earlier declared void the victory of PTI candidate in the constituency during July 25 general polls due to low turnout of female voters (less than 10 per cent). According to records, 86,698 women were registered to vote in the constituency, however, only 3,505 women had cast their votes in violation of ECP regulations.

The polling began at 8:00am and continued till 6:00pm without any break.

Thirteen candidates were in the run for the seat. Prominent among them were Shaukat Yousafzai of PTI, Muhammad Yaar of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Umer Zada of Awami National Party (ANP) and Afsarul Mulk of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

According to ECP, the contesting candidates have taken certain measures, including announcements at mosques, to draw a larger number of women to polling stations to avoid results meeting the same fate again.

The commission also deployed female security staff for the by-election and made special arrangements to facilitate women voters, including arranging conveyance and assigning separate entrances. The ECP said that the measures proved successful as more women appeared to be casting their votes, but locals in PK-23 have observed low women voter turnout yet again.

Of the 135 designated polling stations in by-poll, 25 and 21 were men and women-only respectively, whereas 89 were open to both genders.

The total number of registered voters in the constituency is 200,555, out of which 86,728 are female voters and 113,827 are male.

Earlier on September 4, the Supreme Court upheld the ECP’s decision for re-polling in Shangla’s PK-23 Shangla on September 10.

Hearing the case in Islamabad, a three-member bench of the apex court had rejected petition of Shaukat Yousafzai against the verdict of the commission.

On September 3, the ECP issued a notification stating that polling for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s PK-23 Shangla will be held on September 10.