PTI defeats joint opp in PK-7 Swat by-poll

Fazl Mula secures 18,884 votes, ANP’s Hussain 14,543

SWAT:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday won the PK-7 by-election as its candidate Fazl Mula secured 18,884 votes inflicting defeat on Awami National Party (ANP) candidate Hussain Ahmad.

Hussain Ahmad secured 14,543 votes while independent candidate Muhammad Ali Shah got just 701 votes.

Hussain was the joint opposition candidate and he was expected to easily win the seat as it fell vacant after the death of ANP’s MPA Waqar Ahmad Khan.

The result of one polling station was still awaited at the time of filing of this report but the lead of the PTI candidate was firmly established and the result of one polling station was unlikely to change it.

It may be recalled that in the 2018 general elections a PTI candidate Akbar Ali won the PK-7 seat but he had contested from two constituencies of PK-6 and Pk-7 and decided to quit the PK-7 seat after consultations with party leadership which was won by ANP’s Waqar Ahmad Khan in the subsequent by-election.

Early in the day, polling in Swat by-election went uninterrupted and peaceful.

Police teams had also been deployed inside and around polling stations to maintain security.

According to details, a total of 183,308 people, including 102,088 male voters and 81,220 female voters were to exercise their right to vote.

For the smooth conduct of election, a total of 124 polling stations had been set up including 308 polling booths.

Strict measures had been taken to control the security situation. A total of four candidates were in the running. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Election Commissioner oversaw the election process. He also visited polling stations and inspected the voting process.

On the other hand, ANP has rejected the results and decided to challenge it. In a statement ANP Provincial President Aimal Wali Khan said that the polling process had been ‘managed.’ He maintained that the election was completely engineered. He added that the PTI has nothing to show the masses so it rigged the polls.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2022.