Imran urges Pak election commissioner to resign after Punjab by-polls win

After a resounding victory in Punjab by polls, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja to resign, stating that his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the elections despite the misuse of state machinery.

Pakistan's ruling PML-N party is set to lose its provincial government in Punjab province, after a decisive win by Imran Khan's PTI in the byelections to 20 seats held on Sunday. The Khan-led PTI won 15 seats while PM Sharif's PML-N managed to secure just 4 seats. One seat went to an Independent.

At a public address following his triumph in the Punjab province, Imran Khan insisted that early general elections still were the only solution to the country's current woes, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The PTI chief said that the CEC tried his best to turn the polls in favour of Shehbaz Sharif's PML-N.

"I am disappointed in the chief election commissioner. How could he let all this happen? He is not competent to run [the Election Commission of Pakistan] and is biased towards a political party. Raja should immediately resign."

Imran Khan went on to add that despite several cases of rigging during polls being brought before the CEC, he never punished anyone, which encouraged malpractice as no one feared accountability. But Imran said: "We won as people came out to cast their votes like never before."

Following PTI remarkable win against PML-N in the Punjab elections, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif blamed the "difficult decisions" taken by the government for the failure and said his party respects public opinion.

"We respect public opinion," sources quoted the PML-N leader as saying. "PML-N should accept results with an open heart," he said further.

Nawaz Sharif discussed PML-N's future strategy with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza and also directed the party leaders to convene an emergency meeting of PML-N, Geo News reported.

Earlier, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also took to her Twitter handle saying that the defeat should be accepted with an open heart after the unofficial results started pouring in, showing the PTI in the lead.

"The PML-N should accept the results of the bypolls with an open heart and concede to the decision of the masses," Maryam wrote, adding that winning and losing was part of politics, therefore, the party should now focus on its weaknesses, identify them, and then overcome them.