Pakistan's former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan won the majority of seats in by-elections on Sunday. The party won six National Assembly (NA), and two Punjab Assembly (PA) seats in by-elections.
The PTI was contesting from as many as seven constituencies in the Pakistan NA, and three in the PA. It won the seats in Mardan, Charsadda, Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib and Peshawar in the NA after defeating the ruling coalition's candidates.
In Punjab, the party won in Khanewal, Sheikhupura and Bahawalnagar, Geo News reported. Khan's party, however, were dethroned from Multan and Malir-II constituencies where the PTI won in 2018.
While the former leader will have to resign from all but one of the seats he won -- and elections will happen again -- the sweeping victory shows popular support for his political narrative in the nation of more than 220 million.
The political drama comes as Shehbaz Sharif's government grapples with economic distress. Moody's downgraded the nation's credit rating and Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves have dipped to the lowest levels in three years. Devastating floods earlier this year have also added to the crisis.
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