Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has once again emerged victorious by grabbing majority seats of National and provincial assembly in the by-elections held on October 14.
370 candidates contested for 11 National Assembly and 24 provincial assembly seats in the by-polls. Re-elections were held in these 35 seats that have been vacated by their winners who have opted for another seat from where they have also emerged victorious. By-polls were also held in constituencies where the general elections were not held due to other reasons.
According to unofficial results announced by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), PTI has won 15 seats from the 35 seats on which by-polls were held. The party has won four National Assembly seats and has bagged nine provincial assembly seats.
The opposition party Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) is neck-to-neck with PTI. The party has bagged four NA seats out of the 11, two of which have been won by Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid and one by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
However, the votes by overseas Pakistanis have not been counted. According to ECP spokesman Nadeem Qasim, the commission will have a meeting with the officials of National Database and Registration Authority to decide whether the votes by the overseas Pakistanis will be counted.
If the electoral body decides to count the overseas Pakistanis votes, it will change the game for both PTI and PML-N. This is the first time in the country's history that overseas Pakistanis were allowed to cast their votes.