Islamabad: In a hotly contested and closely watched by-election for Lahore NA-120 constituency, Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, won the seat comfortably but by a narrow margin, leaving the ruling party vulnerable in the general elections.
Unofficial results showed Kulsoom Nawaz secured 61,254 votes —30,412 less than her husband had obtained (91,683 votes) in 2013 elections.
Runners-up Dr Yasmin Rashid of the PTI bagged 47,066 votes — 5,255 less than she had secured in 2013 elections while contesting against Nawaz Sharif at that time.
Contrary to the expectation, the turnout remained quite low. Though a low turnout is a hallmark of all by-elections, it was not an ordinary contest by any means. Also, all parties ran a vigorous campaign for a month to woo the voters.
The election results however, came as a great solace to the shattered PML-N after the ouster of Nawaz Sharif as the Prime Minister and subsequent filing of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against members of the Sharif family.
The ex-Premier was disqualified as member of the parliament by the Supreme Court in July after a legal battle over charges that he and his family had hidden their wealth overseas.
His wife Kulsoom Nawaz is currently hospitalised in London with lymphoma and she won Sunday’s electoral race in absentia, with her daughter Maryam Nawaz running a vigorous campaign to bring the party and the family a direly needed victory.
Despite the defeat, the main opposition candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid did unexpectedly well. A medical doctor and teacher by profession, she ran a hectic day-and-night campaign which she continued even on Eid days.
The two parties had made it a fight between those who stood with the Supreme Court decision of disqualifying Nawaz and the ones who did not accept that decision. But both failed to clearly establish their respective stance as they saw considerable reduction in their vote bank in the constituency: the PML-N by 30,412 and the PTI by 5,255 votes.
