Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be running for all 33 parliamentary seats in the upcoming by-elections, set to take place in March, according to the announcement made by his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
During a press conference held on Sunday, the Vice Chairman of PTI and former Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, revealed that this decision was made during a core committee meeting.
"Imran Khan will be PTI's sole candidate in all 33 parliamentary seats. The decision was taken in the party's core committee meeting which was presided over by Khan at Zaman Park Lahore on Sunday," Qureshi said.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recently announced that by-elections for 33 seats of the National Assembly will take place on March 16. The by-elections have come about due to the resignation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022.
Despite the mass resignation, Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf did not accept the resignations, stating that he needed to verify the individual resignations to ensure they were done voluntarily.
The ECP de-notified 35 PTI lawmakers last month after the speaker accepted their resignations.
After Khan announced his intention to return to the National Assembly and call for a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the speaker later accepted another 35 resignations from PTI lawmakers (and the ECP de-notified them) as well as the remaining 43 resignations.
43 lawmakers from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) still awaiting de-notification from the ECP. If the remaining lawmakers are de-notified, PTI may be virtually wiped out of the National Assembly.
In October of last year, PTI contested eight parliamentary seats, with former Prime Minister Imran Khan winning six. The federal coalition of nine parties, known as the Pakistan Democratic Movement, has stated that they may not participate in the upcoming bypolls. This could potentially pave the way for PTI to win all 33 seats without any opposition.
Of the 33 bypolls, 12 will be held in the Punjab province, 8 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3 in Islamabad, 9 in Sindh, and 1 in Balochistan. The outcome of these elections will be crucial in determining the future political landscape of the country.
The PTI, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, recently dissolved the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, calling for early elections. This move was intended to pressure the Shehbaz Sharif government to hold snap polls.
PTI has taken legal action against the caretaker chief minister and governor of Punjab for failing to announce the election date within the constitutional time-frame of 90 days following the dissolution of the assembly.
The party also plans to file a similar case in the high court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against the governor and caretaker chief minister for not setting a date for elections in the province.
(With inputs from PTI)
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