ISLAMABAD: Based on early results from the by-elections for 20 seats in the Punjab Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) appeared confident of a resounding victory. Its senior leader, Asad Umar, congratulated party members who “rejected the decisions made behind closed doors” through their votes.
Maryam Nawaz, vice president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), on the other hand, urged reflection in the wake of the PML-defeat N’s in its political stronghold.
The PTI secretary general urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to announce early elections while speaking at a press conference in Islamabad.
He said, “Mr. Sharif will be reduced to the “prime minister of Islamabad” after the defeat in the Punjab by-elections and the impending removal of Hamza Shehbaz as the Punjab CM on July 22.Parvez Elahi, the head of the PML-Q, will take office as Punjab’s chief minister on July 22, according to Mr. Umar, who called the election a formality.
Out of the 20 seats in the provincial parliament up for grabs in the by-election, Mr. Umar asserted that the PTI was likely to win 16 or 17 of them based on the preliminary results. The PTI’s expected victory demonstrated that Pakistan’s citizens had rejected the “decisions taken behind closed doors,” he continued.
According to Mr. Umar, the PTI chairman has scheduled a meeting of the core committee for today, Monday, where decisions would be made about the organization’s future course of action.
