Lahore, Pakistan - Dismissed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's wife Kulsoom has won a hotly contested by-election seen as the ruling PML-N party's first key political challenge following the ex-premier's recent removal.

Kulsoom, 66, comfortably defeated the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Yasmin Rashid in the by-election in the eastern city of Lahore, considered the Sharifs' political heartland, on Sunday, unofficial results showed.

Earlier in the day, long lines of voters were seen at many of the NA-120 electoral constituency's 220 polling stations.

Kulsoom was contesting the seat vacated by Nawaz Sharif after his dismissal by the country's Supreme Court in July over an omission in his parliamentary wealth declarations.

Her campaign has been spearheaded by Maryam Nawaz, the couple's daughter and Nawaz' political heir apparent, in her first real foray into electoral politics. Kulsoom herself is undergoing treatment in the UK for her recently diagnosed lymphoma.

My mother has been diagnosed with lymphoma, cancer of lymph nodes, left side of neck in her case. Her treatment begins immediately. — Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) August 23, 2017

Nawaz Sharif and three of his children, including Maryam, are currently facing a corruption investigation and trial by the country's anti-corruption watchdog, on the orders of the Supreme Court.

Delivering a victory speech in her mother's stead, Maryam Nawaz congratulated her party's workers on the win.

"Today, you have not only fought against those who are visible in the battlefield, but also against those who are invisible," she said, a veiled hint at the country's powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for roughly half of its 70-year history since independence.

She said the by-election result represented a rejection of the Supreme Court's decision by voters.

"The people have given their verdict on the verdict today," she told a roaring crowd of hundreds gathered at the Sharif residence in Lahore.

Standing against Kulsoom was the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Yasmin Rashid, a middle-class doctor who has mainly campaigned on the Imran Khan-led party's anti-corruption platform.

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The constituency, home to almost half a million of Lahore's 11 million residents, is deep in the heart of the old city and is considered a Sharif stronghold. His party has not lost the seat since it began contesting elections in 1985.

"It's very difficult for them to take this from us," said Sohail Butt, 48, a PML-N voter in the Mozang area of the city. "In our area, work only gets done if you go through [the PML-N's] workers."

Arif Khan, 32, a voter from the working class Bilal Ganj neighbourhood, said he voted for Sharif's party because of its overhaul of the road, sewerage, and water network in his area.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) voters, meanwhile, appeared to be motivated to vote more on national issues, rather than a connection to their party's local networks.

"I see this is as the first main test for Nawaz Sharif [after his dismissal]," said Zeeshan Khan, 22, a student at Punjab University. "This is a way for the people to show whether they still stand with the PML-N after the verdict."

Others echoed that sentiment.

"Our country is on fire, we are all on fire, that is why I am here to vote," said Asifa Aamir, 47, who said she was concerned with corruption as her primary issue in this by-election.

"Work does get done on the local level in the constituency [by the PML-N]," conceded Zeeshan Tariq, 28, a trader from the Mozang area. "But I vote based on the national issues."

Nearby, a few PML-N workers rode by on motorcycles, raising the party's slogan, referencing their electoral symbol of a lion: "Look who's come, it's the lion, it's the lion!"

Workers at a PTI electoral camp office responded good-naturedly with cries of "Thieves! Thieves!"

Not all exchanges on Sunday were as friendly, however, with minor scuffles reported between PML-N and PTI activists off the city's main Mall road.

Extremist 'mainstreaming'

Also contesting Sunday's by-election were two new right-wing religious entrants to electoral politics in Pakistan, the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan and the Milli Muslim League (MML).

Posters for the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan, spread across the constituency, have prominently featured images of Mumtaz Qadri, the man who murdered Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer over his criticism of Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws in 2011.

The MML, meanwhile, is the political wing of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) armed group, long blamed for suicide and other attacks on targets in neighbouring India and the disputed region of Kashmir.

Early results showed the party was likely to finish third, beating out the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), a major national political party which currently leads the opposition in parliament and rules Sindh province.

The MML shares much of its personnel with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a humanitarian relief organisation that the UN and US both designated as a front for LeT, and which faces international anti-terrorist sanctions.

Election banners for MML's candidate, Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, prominently featured images of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the JuD chief and founder of LeT. Saeed remains under house arrest with no formal charges by Pakistani authorities under an anti-terrorism law.

Saeed is subject to a US bounty of $10m and has been named by both the US and UN as a "terrorist". Sheikh, the MML candidate, was also named as by the US as a "specially designated global terrorist" in 2012, for his alleged role in leading fundraising and operations for LeT.

Neither party is expected to win but could bring in new first-time voters. Analysts say MML is an attempt by Pakistan's powerful intelligence services to bring certain armed groups into the political mainstream to challenge the PML-N's dominance.

"If you give them money, they actually do good work," says Muhammad Naseer, a first-time voter from the Islampura neighbourhood, who voted for the MML. "They are honest. I have donated to JuD and I can see their work."

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera's digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim </s> Islamabad: Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif's wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz has won the crucial by-election in Lahore.

The seat fell vacant after SC disqualified Sharif in Panamagate and instructed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references in the regard.

Citing unofficial and unverified results, Geo News reported that Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Begum Kulsoom Nawaz won the by-polls after managing to attain 61,254 votes, while her competitor, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf's Dr. Yasmin Rashid attained 47,066 votes.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who ran her mother's campaign, thanked the supporters for the victory and hailed their efforts which led to her win.

"A big 'thank you' to each and every PML-N supporter on social media. You guys did an unbelievable job. I am so so proud of you!", she tweeted following the victory.

Addressing party workers following the PML-N's victory in the polls, Maryam said, "All the powers which had surrounded Nawaz Sharif were defeated today."

Soon after the results were out, party workers were seen celebrating in the constituency and at the party's headquarters in Model Town.

The by-election were being seen as a major test for the ruling PML-N after Nawaz Sharif's disqualification as the prime minister. </s> Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) left for London along with her daughter and husband Captain (r) Safdar to meet her ailing mother.

She left on flight of private airline today.

Her mother, Kalsoom Nawaz, is under treatment for throat cancer in London. Nawaz Sharif is already Britain to look after her wife.

Maryam Nawaz stayed in Pakistan to run election campaign for her mother in NA-120 by-elections in which Ms. Nawaz defeated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Dr. Yasmin Rashid after a close contest. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Maryam Nawaz (R) led the campaign for her mother Kulsoom (L)

The wife of Pakistan's former prime minister who stepped down over a corruption inquiry has won a key seat in Lahore, unofficial results suggest.

Kulsoom Nawaz stood in place of her husband Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified from office in July.

She won 61,254 votes, 14,188 more than her nearest rival, local media say.

The vote was seen by both the ruling PML-N party and the opposition as a referendum on the Supreme Court's decision to disqualify Mr Sharif.

Ms Nawaz is currently in London for cancer treatment. Her daughter, Maryam, spearheaded the campaign for the PML-N party in her absence.

"This is not an ordinary victory," Maryam told party supporters after the unofficial results were declared. "You have defeated not only people who were in the field but also those who are invisible."

She said winning her father's former seat in the family's hometown showed that people had rejected the "unjust decision" to disqualify her father.

But, if the results are confirmed, the party's share of the vote in the key constituency has dropped by about 7%.

The Supreme Court barred Mr Sharif from office after an inquiry into the 2016 Panama Papers dump linked his children to offshore companies.

He has always denied the allegations, but the Supreme Court has dismissed petitions seeking a review of its decision.

Media reports suggested a large turnout for the vote on Sunday, with long queues forming outside polling stations.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The military helped to provide security for the by-election

The election was contested by all the major parties, as well as two new Islamist opposition parties.

PML-N faced a strong challenge from the PTI party led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and the Pakistan People's Party of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The by-election was also seen as a test of support for the Sharif family ahead of next year's general election.

Maryam Nawaz, who does not hold political office but is a high-profile figure in Pakistan, alleged that several PML-N party workers had been threatened ahead of polling day.

She took centre stage in the lead-up to the vote and during the campaign sought to portray it as the "people's verdict" on her father's disqualification.

In a recent BBC interview she said the issue had "galvanised his supporters" and that public sentiment was "very positive".

More than 320,000 voters took part in the poll, which for the first time in Pakistan's history was conducted using Biometric Voter Verification Machines in some the constituency's 220 polling stations, Dawn News reported. </s> Lahore: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s ailing wife on Monday won the crucial by-election in Lahore that was seen as a test of support for the family after the supreme court dismissed Sharif from the office in the Panama Papers scandal.

Begum Kulsoom won the NA-120 seat in a close contest with cricket-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf candidate Yasmin Rashid.

The parliamentary seat, said to be a stronghold of the Sharif family, fell vacant after the apex court on 28 July disqualified Sharif in the Panama Papers case on grounds that he was dishonest. The election commission spokesperson said that Kulsoom bagged 59,413 votes defeating Rashid with a margin of more than 13,000 votes. Rashid got 46,145 votes while Sheikh Yaqoob from the Milli Muslim League, a new party backed by Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ut-Dawa (JuD), stood third with more than 4,000 votes.

The support for the Sharif family has, however, diminished as in 2013 general election Nawaz Sharif had defeated Rashid with a margin of more than 41,000. Kulsoom recently underwent cancer treatment in London and has been recuperating in the British capital. Her daughter Maryam Nawaz managed her campaign in her absence.

The election to the parliamentary seat was seen as a test for the PML-N party also because it comes ahead of the general election in Pakistan next year. After the result, Maryam said people have “dismissed conspiracies” against him. The PML-N leader said the people in the constituency have proven that they love Sharif, adding that now it was the time for “opponents to cry”. “Thank God million times. This was PML-N vs All.” “The people have rejected the verdict of the Supreme Court. They have proven that Nawaz Sharif is still their prime minister, regardless of the SC verdict,” she said.

The ruling PML-N blamed the military establishment for picking up around 60 active office-bearers from the seat to influence the by-election. “During the last two days our active chairmen of union councils and workers of NA-120 have been picked up by those forces who had been active since the ouster of my father. Our party men were taken into custody to influence the outcome of the NA-120 by-poll. But by the grace of God we won despite all the odds,” Maryam said.

“Our workers were not intimidated by military dictators in the past. They will not be scared off by such tactics today,” she said. Rashid complained of rigging and said she would not accept the decision till the court decides on “fake” 29,000 votes registered in NA-120.

Federal railways minister Saad Rafique told a press conference after the result that the people had rejected disqualification of Sharif and given verdict in his favour. He alleged that many PML-N voters were not allowed to cast their votes. A total of 44 candidates were in the fray. There were over 320,000 registered voters in the constituency and 220 polling stations.

The Pakistan Army personnel supervised the polling process. The voters’ turnout that was relatively low (less than 30%) in the morning picked up in the afternoon. Long queues were witnessed at several polling stations. Some voters complained about the delay they had to endure before they could cast their votes and also that their names were missing from the polling list, while others rued inadequate facilities, such as the lack of electricity at the stations.

Minor clashes were reported between PTI and ruling PML-N workers. No one was injured. The activists of the JuD and its another front Falah-i- Insaniat (FIF), campaigned for their candidate Yaqoob. The election commission had prohibited Yaqoob from using Saeed’s photographs during the campaign.

Saeed is the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and carries a 10-million bounty on his head. He remains under “preventative detention” in Pakistan. The constituency, with more than 320,000 registered voters, has thrice elected Sharif as Pakistan’s prime minister since 1990. Sharif had won the National Assembly (NA) seat for the first time in 1985. PTI </s> Kulsoom Nawaz, wife of Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, easily won election Sunday to fill the seat he formerly held.

The victory by Kulsoom Nawaz was expected, since the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party is dominant in the central Lahore constituency. The former prime minister had held the seat since the mid-1980s, when he first entered national politics.

Official media reported the winning candidate had 61,254 votes, to just over 47,000 for her main rival, Yasmin Rahid of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. But above and beyond Sunday's by-election, the result was seen as a critical test for the Sharif dynasty ahead of Pakistan's national elections next year.

The country’s Supreme Court, which has been hearing a high-profile corruption case against Nawaz Sharif and his children, ruled in July that Sharif had concealed overseas assets, and ordered his removal from office for "dishonesty."

Kulsoom Nawaz is currently in London undergoing cancer treatment, with her husband at her side. Their daughter, Maryam Nawaz, ran the election campaign in her mother’s absence.

The younger woman, who has been described as a future leader by political insiders in Pakistan, addressed jubilant workers from the PML-N party late Sunday evening.

In her speech, televised live from the family residence in Lahore, Maryam Nawaz said outcome of the election demonstrated the “public’s love for Sharif,” and rejected his disqualification for office.

Pakistan's High Court said it dismissed Sharif because he had not reported monthly earnings he received from an overseas company owned by his son. The former prime minister denied that he had received any salary, or knew anything about the payments, which first were discovered after he was elected prime minister for a third time in 2013.

Sharif’s first term as Pakistan's prime minister, in the early 1990s, also ended abruptly when he was dismissed by presidential decree after being accused of corruption. Back in office a few years later, he was overthrown by a military coup in 1999 and exiled to Saudi Arabia along with other family members. </s> LAHORE: Pakistanis today voted for the parliamentary seat being contested by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's ailing wife in a test of support for the family after the Supreme Court dismissed Sharif from the office in the Panama Papers scandal.

The NA-120 seat in Lahore is said to be a stronghold of the Sharif family. It fell vacant after the apex court on July 28 disqualified Sharif on grounds that he was dishonest.

The latest results shared by the Election Commission with the media after counting of votes cast at 134 polling stations out of the total 220, showed that Sharif's wife Kulsoom Nawaz was edging ahead of her main rival Yasmin Rashid of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf () party.

Sharif's wife was fielded by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party for the by-election against Rashid and 42 other candidates, including one from the Milli Muslim League, a new party backed by Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaat-ut-Dawa (JuD).

Nawaz recently underwent cancer treatment in London and has been recuperating in the British capital. Her daughter Maryam Nawaz managed her campaign in her absence.

The Coalition for Election and Democracy (CED), an alliance of registered independent civil society organisations, in its exit-poll survey showed a slender lead for Nawaz.

The survey was conducted with a sample size of 1,433 voters and the responses were recorded at 55 sampled polling stations, the CED said.

"The survey results show that PML-N may bag 46 per cent of votes against the 40 per cent by closest rival of the ," it said, adding that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) could manage only 1.9 per cent votes.

The election to the parliamentary seat is seen as a test for the PML-N party also because it comes ahead of the general election in Pakistan next year.

Earlier today, the turnout at polling stations picked up in the afternoon after remaining low through the morning hours. Long queues of people waiting to cast their votes were witnessed at the polling stations.

Some voters complained about the delay they had to endure before they could cast their votes and also that their names were missing from the polling list, while others rued inadequate facilities, such as the lack of electricity at the stations.

Minor clashes were reported between and ruling PML-N workers. No one was injured.

The activists of the JuD and its another front Falah-i- Insaniat (FIF), campaigned for their candidate Sheikh Yaqoob.

The Election Commission had prohibited Yaqoob from using Saeed's photographs during the campaign.

Saeed is the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and carries a USD 10-million bounty on his head. He remains under "preventative detention" in Pakistan.

Ahead of the election, Imran Khan had urged the residents of the constituency to give a verdict against "Godfather" Sharif.

And Maryam Nawaz said the people of Lahore will elect her mother and "reject the court's decision" against Sharif. She said the results would be an informal referendum on the disqualification of her father by the Supreme Court.

The constituency, with more than 320,000 registered voters, has thrice elected Sharif as Pakistan's prime minister since 1990. Sharif had won the National Assembly (NA) seat for the first time in 1985. </s> Pakistan’s deposed premier Nawaz Sharif was today sentenced in absentia to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by an anti-graft court in one of the three corruption cases against him in the Panama Papers scandal, dealing a huge blow to his party ahead of the elections on July 25. Sharif’s 44-year-old daughter and co-accused Maryam was given seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of two million pounds, while her husband Capt (Retd) Muhammad Safdar was jailed for one year for not cooperating with the anti-graft authorities.

Amid tight security, the court delivered the much-anticipated verdict after postponing it for five times during the day in the Avenfield corruption case — pertaining to the ownership of four flats in the posh Avenfield House in London. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the case, along with two others, on the Supreme Court’s directives in the landmark Panamagate verdict last year which disqualified Sharif, the three-time prime minister.

Sharif, 68, is currently in London attending to his wife Kulsoom Nawaz who was diagnosed with throat cancer last year. The ruling came weeks before the general elections in Pakistan on July 25 and analysts say it could adversely hit the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party headed by Sharif.

After the verdict, Maryam and Safdar were disqualified from contesting elections. NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi said the accused have 10 days to file an appeal against the verdict. Soon after the verdict, Maryam, considered to be Sharif’s heir apparent, took to Twitter to share this message: “This is a very small punishment for firmly standing in front of unseen forces. The moral to fight against oppression has increased today.”

Islamabad-based accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir pronounced the verdict behind closed doors. Earlier, he had rejected the application of the Sharif family seeking a seven-day postponement in the announcement of the verdict. “The court sentenced Sharif to 10 years rigorous imprisonment and fined eight million pounds (over USD 10 million). Maryam was given seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed two million pounds (over USD 2.6 million) and her husband Muhammad Safdar was awarded one-year rigorous imprisonment,” the NAB prosecution team chief Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi told media outside the court.

The court also ordered confiscation of Avenfield apartments in favour of Pakistan. The fine money will go into the state treasury. “I congratulate my all prosecution team… It is a victory of the NAB prosecution,” Abbasi said. He also said that the verdict showed that Avenfield apartments were purchased with corruption money and were in the ownership of Sharif family since 1993. According to media reports, Sharif and Maryam were in their apartment in the Avenfield building in London when the decision was announced.

Besides Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar, his sons Hassan and Hussain were also co-accused. The two sons never appeared before the court and were declared as absconders. Sharif resigned as Pakistan prime minister last year after the Supreme Court disqualified him from holding public office and ruled that graft cases be filed against the beleaguered leader and his children over the Panama Papers scandal.

The Avenfield case hearing lasted for more than nine months and both Sharif and his daughter attended dozens of hearings. During the trial, the NAB presented around 21 witnessed to prove that Sharif family cannot justify the money trail to buy four apartments in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London. It is alleged that the properties were allegedly bought with grant money in 1990s when he served twice as the prime minister.

Sharif rejected any wrongdoing and insisted they were bought with the legitimate money. After the conviction, it was not sure if Sharif and Maryam would come back to face rigorous imprisonment. Analysts believe that if they return, it might boost the chances of good showing in elections by the PML-N due to the sympathy vote.

Sharif’s nemesis Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) said even before the verdict that Sharif will be sent to jail due to his corruption, as he accused him of using illness of his wife Kulsoom as “emotional blackmail”. “Sharif did not remember his wife while she was under treatment in London and he was holding public meetings across the country,” the cricketer-turned-politician said. </s> Ousted prime minister and his daughter found guilty of failing to disclose ownership of Avenfield apartments

An Accountability Court in Islamabad on Friday rendered it verdict in the Avenfield corruption reference against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s family, sentencing the ousted PMLN leader to 10 years’ imprisonment. The judgment also sentences Sharif’s daughter Maryam to 7 years’ imprisonment and her husband, Muhammad Safdar, to 1 year in jail.

The verdict, announced to media by the prosecution’s lawyer, has also announced fines in addition to the jail terms. Nawaz Sharif has been fined GBP8 million, while Maryam has been fined GBP2 million. These funds will be disbursed to the federal government, according to the judgment. In addition, the government has been ordered to confiscate the property.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif also stands disqualified from contesting the 2018 general elections after the verdict.

Judge Mohammad Bashir announced the judgment after earlier rejecting a plea by Sharif and his daughter Maryam to reserve it for seven days to allow them to return home from London, where they are currently visiting Kulsoom Nawaz, who is a cancer patient and is reportedly in critical condition. Of the accused, only Captain Safdar is currently in Pakistan; Nawaz and his children are all in London with their ailing mother.

Addressing a press conference after the verdict, PMLN President Shahbaz Sharif said his party and the “entire nation” had rejected it. “Nawaz Sharif’s name never even appeared in the Panama reference,” he said, adding that there was no solid evidence to implicate his elder brother. He also questioned NAB’s expedited procedure in the Sharif case, noting that there were cases with far greater alleged corruption that had been pending for years.

The Avenfield reference revolves around the purchase of four flats in Avenfield House, Park Lane, London and is one of a number of corruption cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau against Nawaz Sharif and his children following the premier’s ouster from office by the Supreme Court through its Panamagate verdict. In addition to Nawaz, Maryam, and her husband Captain Muhammad Safdar, NAB also nominated Sharif’s sons Hussain and Hassan as co-accused in the corruption references.

According to NAB, the Sharif family had failed to disclose the resources used to purchase the apartments despite claiming they had all been acquired through legitimate sources. A JIT report used to establish NAB’s case had also alleged that the Sharif family had given contradictory reports about when they had purchased the apartments, adding that records showed they had owned them since 1993.
Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, wife of ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, defeats the opposition party's Yasmin Rashid in the by-election for Nawaz Sharif's National Assembly seat. Kulsoom, represented by her daughter and proxy Maryam, is being treated in London for cancer.