Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan won six out of the eight seats in the National Assembly for which he ran in a by-election that took place at the weekend, unofficial results showed Monday, in a vote he considered a "referendum on his popularity."

The by-election is the latest twist in the political saga that began with Khan's ouster via a parliamentary no-confidence vote on April 10.

It comes as the country deals with the aftermath of devastating monsoon floods that affected more than 30 million people and submerged one-third of the country.

Speaking at a press conference at his home on the outskirts of Islamabad, Khan said that the polls were held in "constituencies where the government believed that the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was the weakest," adding that "despite these attempts, our voters defeated the candidates of the ruling coalition combined."

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The 70-year-old politician has sought to disrupt the political process in Pakistan since his ouster in April, when he asked all of his party's members to give up their seats, leaving the National Assembly without any PTI members.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan ran for seven of the eight national assembly seats up for grabs in a key by-election on Sunday, which he calls a "referendum" on his popularity.

Khan was ousted by the Opposition through a no-confidence motion in April. Consequently, Khan is looking forward to running in the next legislative elections scheduled for October 2023. 

“This was a referendum because voters knew we would not go to the assembly, and even then they voted in favor of our candidates,” Khan said.

Khan vowed that he will soon announce the date of a “long march” of his supporters in the capital to pressure the government to announce an earlier national election than that scheduled for October next year.

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has already won a string of recent by-election victories, including control of the state assembly in Punjab, the country's most populous province, in July.