The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced the schedule for by-elections in 31 more National Assembly constituencies that were vacated after NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf's acceptance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers' resignations,By-elections on 31 more NA seats to be held on March 19.
PTI members resigned en masse in April last year after the ouster of Imran as prime minister, but only 11 resignations were accepted in July.
Later, as the party tried to stage a comeback to the house, the speaker began accepting their resignations. In a couple of days, he had accepted 113 in addition to the 31 seats.
The electoral watchdog has already announced by-elections on 33 vacant NA seats on March 16.
Last week, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced contesting by-polls on all the 33 NA seats but later, he backtracked from his decision and decided to field ex-MNAs in their respective constituencies.
Earlier, there were reports of discussion within the party that even if Imran succeeded in winning all the by-elections, the party’s return to the NA would not be possible.
The party leaders argued that it was necessary to field candidates in the constituencies for returning to the legislature.
PTI is seeking a return to the National Assembly in order to reclaim the position of the opposition leader and to prevent the government from forming a caretaker setup on its own accord.
