Imran Khan's party wins Karachi seat election rerun

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. Voting was held under tight security in 43 polling stations on Sunday, a day after a senior official of Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party was shot dead outside her home in the city. Polling was re-run after complaints of ballot-stuffing in the upmarket district of the vast port city, Pakistan's economic engine, during the May 11 general election. The PTI's Arif Alvi secured 77,659 votes to beat his closest rival Khushbakht Shujaat of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) who polled 30,365 votes, election commission spokesman Najib Ahmed said giving the unofficial results. The outcome was not a surprise as the MQM boycotted Sunday's partial polls after its demand for re-polling in the NA-250 constituency was rejected by the election commission. Troops, police and paramilitary rangers backed up by armoured personnel carriers guarded polling stations in the constituency after PTI provincial vice-president Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed on Saturday night. Her death followed a bloody election campaign marked by more than 150 killings since mid-April. Khan was quick to pin the blame on the MQM and specifically its chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, saying he had "openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts". "Our victory in Karachi marks a new era of peace, tolerance," Alvi said. "The people have shown their strong will for a change in the political landscape of this city, which is the backbone of the country in all terms." The MQM has long dominated in Karachi but lost seats at the election and senior party leader Farooq Sattar rejected the results of what he called the "farcical" re-run poll. Tensions have been running high in Karachi and up to 8,000 MQM supporters took to the streets on Monday to protest at Khan's accusations against Hussain. "Imran Khan has hurt the sentiments of millions of MQM workers and supporters by accusing our chief," Wasim Aftab, a senior MQM official, told the rally, where protesters burned effigies of the former cricket star. The election was won by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is set to serve an unprecedented third term as premier nearly 14 years after he was deposed in a coup. Khan's party came in third, according to partial official results, behind the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) which led the outgoing coalition government.