April 2023 Pakistan by-elections

By-elections will be held for 6 National Assembly constituencies in Pakistan on 30 April 2023.[1]

Not to be confused with 2023 Pakistani general election or March 2023 Pakistan by-elections.
April 2023 Pakistan by-elections
30 April 2023
6 out of 342 seats in the National Assembly
  First party
 
Leader Imran Khan
Party PTI
Alliance -
Leader since 25 April 1996
Leader's seat Will not contest
Last election 49.61%, 6 seats

These by-elections were called due to their vacation by Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. They will be held in NA-22 Mardan-III, NA-24 Charsadda-II, NA-31 Peshawar-V, NA-108 Faisalabad-VIII, NA-118 Nankana Sahib-II, and NA-239 Korangi Karachi-I.[2]

Background

After the removal of Prime Minister Imran Khan through a successful vote of no-confidence, 123 MNAs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with Imran Khan and several former Ministers, resigned from the National Assembly of Pakistan. Although the Deputy Speaker at the time, Qasim Suri, accepted said resignations, he soon resigned from the National Assembly as well. Newly elected Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf summoned PTI MNAs to individually verify their resignations but no one appeared.[3][4][5]

On 29 July 2022, 11 of these resignations were accepted and nine by-elections were held in October 2022, which the PTI won in a landslide. Khan had won 7 of these 9 seats.[6][7][8]

According to Article 223(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan, a person can not be a member of one House in "respect of more than one seat". If a person is elected to more than one seat, they shall resign all but one of their seats. If they do not resign, all of their seats will become vacant in 30 days except for the one to which they were elected last.

On 19 January 2023, Khan's victory on these 7 seats was notified by the Election Commission of Pakistan. He did not resign any of these seats, and therefore, under Article 223(2) of the Constitution, on 24 February 2023, he was de-notified from 6 of these seats. His notification from NA-45 Kurram-I was not overturned as he was elected to this seat on 30 October 2022 while he was elected to the other 6 seats on 16 October.[9]

On 8 March 2023, the ECP issued the schedule for by-elections on these 6 seats, which stated that the polling date would be 30 April 2023, the same day as the 2023 Punjab provincial election.[10]

Candidates

The PTI has decided to field most of their former MNAs who won in the 2018 elections from these constituencies. On the other hand, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), along with the Pakistan People's Party and Awami National Party, their federal coalition partners, decided against contesting these by-elections.[11]

No District Constituency Candidates Registered Voters
Male Female Total
1 Mardan NA-22 3
2 Charsadda NA-24 6
3 Peshawar NA-31 3
5 Faisalabad NA-108
6 Nankana Sahib NA-118 8
8 Korangi NA-239

References
  1. "ECP issues polls schedule for Punjab PA, six NA seats". The Express Tribune. 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  2. Dawn.com (2023-02-24). "ECP de-notifies Imran Khan from 6 National Assembly seats". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  3. "Resignations of 123 PTI MNAs accepted". The Express Tribune. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  4. Dawn.com (2022-04-11). "PTI announces mass resignations from National Assembly". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  5. "Speaker summons 131 PTI MNAs to verify resignations". The Express Tribune. 2022-05-30. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  6. "Pakistan National Assembly accepts resignation of 11 PTI MNAs". ANI News. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  7. Desk, BR Web (2022-10-16). "Oct 16 by-polls: PTI wins majority of seats in all three provinces". Brecorder. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  8. "Imran Khan wins NA-45 Kurram by-elections, unofficial results show". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  9. Dawn.com (2023-02-24). "ECP de-notifies Imran Khan from 6 National Assembly seats". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  10. Sadozai, Irfan (2023-03-08). "ECP issues schedule for Punjab elections, 6 vacant NA seats". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  11. Sadozai, Irfan (2023-03-08). "ECP issues schedule for Punjab elections, 6 vacant NA seats". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.