Is Nawaz losing both NA seats?

LAHORE: Three-time prime minister and PMLN supremo seems under a real test on both NA seats he is contesting, including NA-15, Mansehra, and NA-130, Lahore.

Till the filing, according to unconfirmed reports based on incomplete results, Nawaz was facing defeat from PTI-backed independent candidate Gustasap Khan on Mansehra constituency. Similarly, in Lahore, his hometown, Nawaz Sharif’s contest against PTI-backed independent candidate Dr Yasmin Rashid was also going very tough.

Throughout his career, Nawaz has never lost from the regions of Abbottabad, Mansehra and Lahore. The only time he suffered defeat was in the 1988 general elections when he lost to PPP’s Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani from Multan on the NA seat and at the hands of Rao Afzal and Mian Amjed Joyia from Okara and Pakpattan on the provincial seats. However, the party seemed confident that Nawaz Sharif would retain the Lahore seat.

Speaking in Geo News live election transmission, former PTI lawmaker Faisal Vawda said that a “surprise” took place in Karachi as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is leading on more than expected seats in the metropolis. He said if the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) sits in the opposition with independent candidates, the entire country will be “destroyed” in 6-7 months.

He added that a “sale of independents” has been set up and “traders” have arrived in Islamabad.

“What I have been saying will prove to be true in the next 72 hours,” said Vawda.

“It was expected that independent candidates would have the upper hand,” he said, adding that Junejo’s tenure [in 1985] should be remembered when looking at the independent candidates’ game.

He added that the PTI’s popularity is based on its own public traction and hatred of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government.

Vawda has insisted that he is not surprised over the results so far announced from unofficial sources, saying he has been predicting the same for several months in different television talk shows.

He said “Go Nawaz Go” just happened with no conspicuous majority for any single party.

The former PTI leader raised alarm, saying the political parties have already hit the ground, upping the ante for the purchase of independents. However, he asserted that known figures like Salman Akram Raja will not jump the ship.

Flexing his prediction muscles, Vawda said that trade has already settled as recognised faces would be seen on the opposition benches but unrecognised faces who won their seats on the PTI backing would join the treasury benches.