ECP declares Imran’s victory in seven National Assembly seats
Judgment rendered after PTI leader provides information on electoral expenditure during October 2022 elections.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has finally confirmed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan’s success in seven constituencies of the National Assembly in the by-elections held on October 16, 2022, despite the latter’s failure to submit the details of poll expenses within the stipulated time.
Those seven seats are NA 22, NA 24, NA 31, NA 45, NA 108, NA 118 and NA 239. As per the law, candidates must submit the details of election expenses within three days after the date of the election, and several candidates have been disqualified in the past for not doing so, with the Supreme Court also barring the losing candidates from contesting the next election.
Therefore, the ECP’s decision to confirm Imran Khan’s success despite his failure to submit the election expenditure details is a remarkable one.
Despite the submission of Imran Khan’s election expenses, the ECP today issued a notification confirming his victory in all the seven seats he had won in the by-elections last year. Out of the eight National Assembly seats, Imran had defended seven of them, while Meher Bano Qureshi had defended the party’s bastion in Multan, which was however won by the PPP’s Hakeem Baloch in Karachi and Ali Musa Gilani in Multan.
Imran’s success in the by-elections was confirmed in Mardan, Charsadda and Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Faisalabad and Nankana Sahib in Punjab and the Korangi district of Karachi in Sindh. Furthermore, his election expenses were approved by the ECP.