Imran Khan’s party wins Karachi revote
A Pakistani supporter of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party shouts slogans during a protest against Imran Khan, the head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, in Karachi on May 20, 2013. Thousands of supporters of MQM, a powerful party in southern Pakistan, rallied to protest accusation by Imran Khan’s party against MQM’s party chief. The party of former Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan secured victory in a repeat election held in one constituency of violence-plagued Karachi, election officials said Monday.
The party of former cricket star Imran Khan has won a revote in one constituency of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, as residents brace for more protests.
The second vote was held on May 19 under tight security at 43 polling stations in Karachi's NA-250 constituency, with results saying the Pakistan Movement for Justice party (PTI)'s Arif Alvi received more than 77,000 votes. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) candidate got just over 30,000 votes.
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The repeat election came after Khan's party, the PTI, complained of irregularities and fraud in the first vote on May 11 by Karachi's long-dominant party, the MQM.
It also followed the killing of Zahra Shahid Hussain, PTI's senior vice president, outside her Karachi home, which Khan blamed on MQM, specifically accusing party head Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London and leads his party remotely because he is accused of a separate murder in Pakistan.
MQM denied responsibility for the politician's murder.
The PTI has called for protests on Monday in retaliation.
The original election on May 11 named Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party (PML-N) party victorious and made Khan's party the third-largest electoral force.
It marked the first transition of power between democratically elected governments since the state of Pakistan was created in 1947.