Cantonment board elections prove PTI only national party in country: Umar

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said the cantonment board elections have proved that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is not only the largest party but also the only national party in the country.

In a tweet on Monday, Umar stated: "Cantonment elections once again show PTI not only as the largest party but also the only national party."

He added that the PTI won either the highest- or second-highest seats in every province. "Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) did not win any seats in Balochistan and was on the fifth position in Sindh," he said.

The minister maintained that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also failed to win any seats in Punjab and Balochistan, and stood third in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "Prime Minister Imran Khan is the only national leader," he remarked.

According to unofficial results, the PTI emerged as the largest party in Cantonment Boards' elections across the country with 58 seats.

PTI emerges as largest party in cantonment board elections

The PML-N managed to secure 51 seats followed by 49 independent candidates. The PPP won 14 seats while the Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan got 10 seats. Jamaat-e-Islami has also won five seats while Balochistan Awami Party secured two seats.

On Sunday, the polling for local government elections in 42 cantonment boards of the country ended under strict security measures amid reports of clashes between the activists of different political parties.

Cantonment board polls: ECP praises voters, others

The voting process started at 8am and continued till 5pm without a break. At least 1,560 candidates were competing for 206 general seats while over 5,000 polling booths were set up in 1,644 polling stations. A total of 2,197,441 voters, including 1,154,551 men and 1,043,190 women, were registered in all the 42 cantonment boards.

At least 684 independent candidates and 876 belonging to different political parties contested the polls. The ruling PTI fielded 183 candidates while the PML-N 144, PPP 113, JI 104, the TLP 83, MQM-P 42, PSP 35, PML-Q 34, and JUI-F 25 candidates.

Meanwhile, seven candidates were elected unopposed, including two each from Multan and Attock.