AMN / LAHORE
Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife Begum Kulsoom has won the crucial Lahore by-election. She defeated Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate Yasmin Rashid by a margin of more than 13,000 votes.
The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court dismissed Sharif from the office in the Panama Papers scandal. The win is seen as a test of support for the family after Sharif’s ouster.
According to the unverified and unofficial results PML-N’s candidate Kulsoom Nawaz received 61,254 votes while Dr Yasmin Rashid got 47,066 votes from the 220 polling stations in the constituency.
Yaqoob Sheikh, an independent candidate backed by the newly formed Milli Muslim League (MML), stood third according to the provisional results while PPP’s Faisal Mir was fourth — these rankings, however, cannot be considered final until the Election Commission of Pakistan issues its official results, expected on Tuesday.
A close contest was observed between PTI’s candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid and Kulsoom Nawaz.
“Not only have NA-120 voters rejected the Supreme Court’s decision [disqualifying Nawaz Sharif], but also rejected the court’s spokesmen,” Maryam Nawaz Sharif said while speaking to supporters after provisional results showed decisive victory for PML-N.
Speaking from the same balcony in Model Town from which Nawaz Sharif had given his victory speech in 2013, Maryam said: “Voters have given a decision on a decision, which is that our prime minister is still Nawaz Sharif.”