The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided on Thursday to issue a notification confirming Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s victory in by-elections held in October on seven National Assembly seats.

A five-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja announced the decision. The bench had reserved the verdict on December 20 last year.

In its verdict, the ECP said that the PTI chairman had furnished all required details, hence paving the way for the issuance of the notification of his victory.

In October, the former PM contested by-polls and won on six seats — NA-22, NA-24, NA-31, NA-108, NA-118, and NA-239, and NA-45. These seats were vacated when the NA speaker accepted the resignations of nine PTI MNAs, who had tendered resignations en masse as the party policy.

However, the ECP withheld the notification of his victory on all the six NA seats in pursuance of its own decision to disqualify Khan from NA in the Toshakhana reference—a decision that attracted widespread criticism from the public and political circles.