Pattern of voting, margin of victory in NA-149 validates May 2013 elections: PML-N

Party spokesperson says PTI was struggling to maintain its lead in the constituency

ISLAMABAD: After Javed Hashmi’s defeat in the NA-149 by-elections on Thursday, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson said that the voting pattern and margin of victory validates results of the May 11, 2013 elections.

The spokesperson said that the result in the 2013 general elections was 83, 000 to 73,000 votes with PTI winning the seat by a margin of around 10,000 votes. On Thursday, preliminary results showed that Hashmi lost securing 38,393 votes against the PTI backed Malik Amir Dogar’s 52,321 votes.

The PML-N spokesperson pointed to the similarity in the difference of votes. He added that that PTI was struggling to maintain its lead.

The narrow margin of victory, the spokesperson further asserted, was despite claims by PTI of high electricity tariffs. He added that even after massive political mobilisation by the PTI and PAT including massive public meetings, and zero visibility of the government in the constituency, PTI had only retained its seat by a similar margin.