July 2022 Punjab provincial by-election

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By-elections were held in Punjab, Pakistan on 17 July 2022 to elect 20 members of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won a landslide victory on 15 of those 20 seats, leading to the collapse of Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz's PML(N)-led coalition government, as it became 7 seats short of a majority.[1]

The by-elections were held on these seats: PP-7 (Rawalpindi-II), PP-83 (Khushab-II), PP-90 (Bhakkar-II), PP-97 (Faisalabad-I), PP-125 (Jhang-II), PP-127 (Jhang-IV), PP-140 (Sheikhupura-VI), PP-158 (Lahore-XV), PP-167 (Lahore-XXIV), PP-168 (Lahore-XXV), PP-170 (Lahore-XXVII), PP-202 (Sahiwal-VII), PP-217 (Multan-VII), PP-224 (Lodhran-I), PP-228 (Lodhran-V), PP-237 (Bahawalnagar-I), PP-272 (Muzaffargarh-V), PP-273 (Muzaffargarh-VI), PP-282 (Layyah-III) and PP-288 (Dera Ghazi Khan-IV).

In the 2018 election, 11 of these seats were won by Independents, 8 were won by candidates on the PTI-ticket, and 1 by a PML(N) candidate; the 11 independents all subsequently joined the PTI and the PML(N) seat was won by the PTI in a December 2018 by-election. The by-elections were triggered after these 20 PTI MPAs voted in favor of the opposition candidate belonging to the PML(N), Hamza Shahbaz, to become the Chief Minister of Punjab, which, according to the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan, violated Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan which concerns party defections.

Background

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After the 2018 Provincial Elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 159 seats and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML(N)) won 164 seats. Soon after, 25 out of 30 Independents joined PTI, but it was still 2 seats short of a majority of 186. Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML(Q)) with 10 seats formed alliance with PTI.[2] PTI was able to form government in Punjab.

During a political crisis in Pakistan after the successful no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, another motion of no confidence was filed against Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, as well as against Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Dost Muhammad Mazari, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, respectively. Buzdar resigned before a vote on the motion of no confidence could be held and as a consequence, an election for a new Chief Minister was scheduled on 16 April between PML(N)'s Hamza Shahbaz, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, and PML(Q)'s Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the joint candidate of his party and PTI. On the day of the election, 25 PTI MPAs crossed the floor to support Shahbaz, violating party policy. During the very beginning of the Assembly session on 16 April, a riot began between PTI and PML-N supporters. PTI MPAs threw ewers at the Deputy Speaker, as well as slapping him. The police entered the Assembly for the first time in its history and arrested 3 MPAs.[3] The Deputy Speaker then presided over the Assembly session in the visitors gallery and declared Shahbaz the winner by securing 197 votes.[4]

After the floor crossing, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-seated 25 dissident PTI MPAs for defection in the light of Article 63-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 20 May 2022.[5] Five of these MPAs were elected on reserved seats (three for women and two for minorities) and new PTI MPAs were notified on these seats on 7 July.[6]

The ECP announced on 25 May 2022 that the by-elections would be held on 17 July 2022.[7] The government held 177 seats in the assembly. This included 165 PML(N) MPAs, 7 PPP MPAs, 1 PRHP MPA, and 4 independent MPAs. Therefore, they needed to win 9 seats to gain a majority in the assembly. On the other hand, the opposition held 173 seats. This included 163 PTI MPAs and 10 PML(Q) MPAs. Therefore, they needed to win 13 seats to gain a majority in the assembly.

Candidates

A total number of 330 candidates filed nominations for the 20 constituencies.Template:Citation needed The major contest was between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League (N).[8] The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) withdrew its candidates in favor of PML(N)[9] whereas PML-Q withdrew its candidates in favor of PTI.[10][11]

The nominations of 175 candidates were accepted from across Punjab and they contested in these by-elections. 3,131 Polling Stations were created in 20 Constituencies out of which 731 were for men, 700 for women, and 1700 were combined polling stations. The ECP declared 1304 polling stations sensitive and 690 highly sensitive. All polling stations from the 4 constituencies of Lahore and the constituency of Multan were declared sensitive.[12]

No District Constituency Candidates Registered voters
1 Rawalpindi PP-7 6 335,295
2 Khushab PP-83 10 322,428
3 Bhakkar PP-90 9 248,960
4 Faisalabad PP-97 12 255,884
5 Jhang PP-125 10 251,571
6 PP-127 10 234,596
7 Sheikhupura PP-140 10 241,598
8 Lahore PP-158 14 236,394
9 PP-167 11 220,348
10 PP-168 10 151,484
11 PP-170 8 114,652
12 Sahiwal PP-202 8 233,079
13 Multan PP-217 4 216,996
14 Lodhran PP-224 10 232,173
15 PP-228 6 226,088
16 Bahawalnagar PP-237 6 225,341
17 Muzaffargarh PP-272 9 203,567
18 PP-273 6 225,200
19 Layyah PP-282 10 202,249
20 Dera Ghazi Khan PP-288 6 201,995
Total 20 175 4,579,898

Results

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Party Votes Seats
No. % Contested Won +/−
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 1,049,183 46.83 20 15 Template:Decrease5
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PMLN 883,632 39.44 20 4 Template:Increase4
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | TLP 124,035 5.54 19 0 Template:Steady
JI 7,634 0.34 9 0 Template:Steady
Others & Independents 175,981 7.85 107 1 Template:Increase1
Total Valid votes 2,240,465 98.41
Invalid/Rejected 36,285 1.59
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Total 2,276,750 100 175 20
Registered voters/Turnout 4,579,898 49.71
Source: Election Commission of Pakistan[13]

Result by Constituency

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District Assembly Constituency Winner Runner-up Margin Turnout

%

Candidate Party Votes % Candidate Party Votes %
Rawalpindi PP-7 Rawalpindi Raja Sagheer Ahmed bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 68,906 43.29 Muhammad Shabbir Awan bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 68,857 43.27 49 47.46
Khushab PP-83 Khushab Hasan Aslam Awan bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 50,749 32.90 Muhammad Asif Malik IND 43,587 28.26 7,162 47.84
Bhakkar PP-90 Bhakkar Irfan Ullah Khan Niazi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 77,865 47.48 Saeed Akbar Khan Niwani bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 66,513 40.56 11,352 65.86
Faisalabad PP-97 Faisalabad Ali Afzal Sahi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 67,022 50.08 Muhammad Ajmal Cheema bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 54,266 40.55 12,756 52.30
Jhang PP-125 Jhang Mian Muhammad Azam Cheela bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 82,297 55.59 Faisal Hayat Jabboana bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 52,277 35.31 30,020 58.84
PP-127 Jhang Mehar Muhammad Nawaz bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 71,648 56.87 Mehar Muhammad Aslam Bharwana bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 47,413 37.63 24,235 53.71
Sheikhupura PP-140 Sheikhupura Khurram Shahzad Virk bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 50,166 51.09 Mian Khalid Mehmood bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 32,105 32.69 18,061 40.65
Lahore PP-158 Lahore Mian Muhammad Akram Usman bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 37,463 49.02 Rana Ahsan Sharafat bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 31,906 41.75 5,557 32.33
PP-167 Lahore Shabbir Gujjar bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 40,511 54.78 Nazir Ahmed Chohan bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 26,473 35.80 14,038 33.56
PP-168 Lahore Malik Asad Ali Khokhar bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 26,169 53.11 Malik Nawaz Awan bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 15,768 32.00 10,401 32.53
PP-170 Lahore Malik Zaheer Abbas bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 24,688 53.37 Muhammad Amin Zulqarnain bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 17,519 37.88 7,169 40.34
Sahiwal PP-202 Sahiwal Muhammad Gulam Sarwar bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 62,298 47.89 Nauman Ahmad Langrial bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 59,191 45.50 3,107 55.81
Multan PP-217 Multan Zain Qureshi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 47,349 51.76 Salman Naeem bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 40,425 44.19 6,924 42.16
Lodhran PP-224 Lodhran Amir Iqbal Shah bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 69,881 52.61 Zawar Hussain Warraich bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 56,214 42.32 13,667 57.21
PP-228 Lodhran Syed Rafi Uddin IND 45,020 35.63 Izzat Javaid Khan bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 38,338 30.34 6,682 55.88
Bahawalnagar PP-237 Bahawalnagar Mian Fida Hussain Wattoo bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 66,881 54.09 Aftab Mehmood bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 31,148 25.19 35,733 54.87
Muzaffargarh PP-272 Muzaffargarh Muhammad Moazam Ali Khan Jatoi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 46,069 44.04 Zehra Basit Bukhari bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 36,401 34.80 9,668 51.38
PP-273 Muzaffargarh Syed Muhammad Sibtain Raza bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 59,679 49.78 Yasir Khan Jatoi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 51,232 42.74 8,447 53.23
Layyah PP-282 Layyah Qaisar Abbas Khan Magsi bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 57,718 47.93 Muhammad Tahir Randhawa bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 38,758 32.19 18,960 59.54
Dera Ghazi Khan PP-288 Dera Ghazi Khan Muhammad Saif-ud-Din Khosa bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PTI 58,116 59.75 Abdul Qadir Khan Khosa bgcolor="Template:Party color" | PML(N) 32,212 33.12 25,904 48.15

Constituency-wise Detailed Result

Detailed results of each constituency are as follows:

PP-7 Rawalpindi

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PP-83 Khushab

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PP-90 Bhakkar

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PP-97 Faisalabad

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PP-125 Jhang

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PP-127 Jhang

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PP-140 Sheikhupura

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PP-158 Lahore

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PP-167 Lahore

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PP-168 Lahore

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PP-170 Lahore

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PP-202 Sahiwal

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PP-217 Multan

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PP-224 Lodhran

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PP-228 Lodhran

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PP-237 Bahawalnagar

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PP-272 Muzaffargarh

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PP-273 Muzaffargarh

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PP-282 Layyah

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PP-288 Dera Ghazi Khan

Template:Election box beginTemplate:Election box winning candidate with party link no changeTemplate:Election box candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box candidateTemplate:Election box majorityTemplate:Election box rejectedTemplate:Election box turnoutTemplate:Election box end

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the by-election, it was claimed that PTI MPA from PP-257 (Rahim Yar Khan-II), Chaudhry Masood Ahmad had become a turncoat after his loyalty was allegedly bought, whereafter he soon fled to Turkey.[14] Allegations of rigging were also put forward by PTI in the PP-7 (Rawalpindi-II) constituency, where the PML(N) candidate emerged as the victor with a margin of 49 votes.[15] A plea for a recount was also presented, which was subsequently rejected by the ECP.[16] 2 PML(N) MPAs, Faisal Niazi from PP-209 (Khanewal-VII) and Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri from PP-139 (Sheikhupura-V), also resigned from their seats before the election for Chief Minister.[17][18]

Election for Chief Minister

The election for Chief Minister took place on 22 July 2022 among members of the Provincial Assembly.[19] Controversially, the votes of ten PML(Q) MPAs were rejected by Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, citing an interpretation of Article 63A of the Constitution and a letter from the leader Shujaat Hussain stating he had "issued directions to all my provincial members to cast their votes in favour of Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif". This resulted in a majority of valid votes, 179, for Hamza Shahbaz to Pervaiz Elahi's 176. Article 63A states:

Template:Blockquote

The PTI filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Pakistan, stating that as PML(Q) leader Hussain was not a member of the Punjab Assembly, he did not have the authority to make the decision to back Shahbaz under section 2 of the constitutional article cited, as only the Parliamentary Party has the authority to decide which candidate its members are to vote for.[20][21] Additionally, under a 17 May Supreme Court ruling, although defecting lawmakers' votes will not be counted for purposes of voting in Article 63A, section 1, subsection b,[22] none of the 10 PML(Q) members had been deemed to have defected, as that would have required a letter stating as such from the leader, which was Shujaat Hussain. As a consequence of the court proceedings, Shahbaz was made a “trustee Chief Minister” until the three-judge bench of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, could reach a decision.

The bench ruled on 26 July that the Deputy Speaker's ruling was unconstitutional and that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi would be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Punjab.[23]

Punjab, Pakistan Chief Ministerial Election, 22 July 2022
Candidate Party Supporting Parties Votes Obtained
Required majority → 186 out of 371
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Pervaiz Elahi PML(Q) PTI 186 Template:Tick
bgcolor="Template:Party color" | Hamza Shahbaz PML(N) PPP, PRHP, Independents 179 Template:Cross

Notes


References

  1. ↑ Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan stuns rivals with Punjab by-election upset. BBC News(2022-07-18). Retrieved 2022-07-19.
  2. ↑ PML-Q decides to back PTI in Punjab. Global Village Space(2018-07-31). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  3. ↑ Punjab Assembly: Police enters house, takes MPAs into custody after brawl, Khawaja, Naseer. ARY NEWS(2022-04-16). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  4. ↑ Hamza Shehbaz elected Punjab CM after garnering 197 votes in session marred by melees, chaos, Sheikh, Adnan. Dawn(2022-04-16). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  5. ↑ ECP de-seats 25 dissident PTI MPAs for defection, Chaudhry, Fahad. DAWN.COM(2022-05-20). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  6. ↑ PTI bags five reserved seats in PA, Virk, Saqib. The Express Tribune(2022-07-07). Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  7. ↑ ECP announces schedule for by-polls on 20 Punjab Assembly seats. www.thenews.com.pk(25 May 2022). Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  8. ↑ PTI vs PML-N: Who are the candidates contesting in Punjab by-polls?. www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  9. ↑ Punjab by-polls: PPP candidates to withdraw in favour of PML-N. Latest News - The Nation. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  10. ↑ PML-Q to support PTI candidates in Punjab by-polls, Farooq, Azhar. ARY NEWS(2022-06-07). Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  11. ↑ PTI vs PML-N: Who are the candidates contesting in Punjab by-polls?. www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
  12. ↑ Punjab by-elections: Voting underway to decide fate of 175 candidates. Brecorder(2022-07-17). Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  13. ↑ Election Commission of Pakistan (OFFICIAL) on Twitter. Twitter(15 July 2022). Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  14. ↑ With numbers on his side, Elahi ready to settle score with Sharifs. Minute Mirror(2022-07-21). Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  15. ↑ RO rejects PTI recounting of votes plea in PP-7 by-election. Dunya News(20 July 2022). Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  16. ↑ ECP dismisses PTI plea seeking recount of votes in PP-7, Yusuf, Nausheen. www.geo.tv(21 July 2022). Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  17. ↑ PML-N MPA’s resignation accepted, Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff. DAWN.COM(2022-07-16). Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  18. ↑ Another setback to PMLN as MPA Sharaqpuri resigns. www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  19. ↑ SC orders Punjab CM re-election on July 22, Malik, Hasnaat. The Express Tribune(2022-07-01). Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  20. ↑ Elahi wins, but Hamza gets the prize. The Express Tribune(2022-07-22). Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  21. ↑ Elahi suffers shock defeat as Hamza retains Punjab CM position after deputy speaker's contentious ruling, Hayat, Muhammad Omer. Dawn(2022-07-22). Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  22. ↑ Article 63-A: SC decides defecting lawmakers' votes will not be counted, Bhatti, Haseeb. DAWN.COM(2022-05-17). Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  23. ↑ SC declares ruling on Punjab CM poll null and void. The Express Tribune(2022-07-26). Retrieved 2022-07-26.

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