• 

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called for an early national election again on Monday, after his party seized control of the Punjab state assembly, the country's most populous province.

The Punjab by-election, with twenty seats up for grabs, was seen as a popularity test for former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted by a no-confidence vote in April.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won 15 seats, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif won four, with an independent managing to win one.

#ShehbazSharif, #ImranKhan's successor, has a remarkable history of corruption along with his family.

Does Sharif's election confirm the ex-PM's claims of #US meddling in #Pakistan's internal affairs? pic.twitter.com/W7TeR4nVCQ

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 11, 2022

The vote on Sunday was also seen as a forerunner for national elections that must be held by October of next year.

After the Punjab votes were tallied, Khan tweeted early Monday that “the only way forward from here is to hold free and transparent elections." 

"Any other way will only lead to increased political uncertainty and further economic chaos."

Since his ouster, Khan has constantly reiterated that the government was imposed on Pakistan by a US-led conspiracy.

Khan considered that a foreign-funded conspiracy supports his toppling after he had visited Moscow last February, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in conjunction with the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

The Punjab result was the result of the country's current economic hardships, which include spending nearly half of its income to service dire foreign debt as per local newspapers.

The Punjab assembly election was called after the election commission disqualified 20 PTI members for switching party allegiances.

Read more: Imran Khan: US-backed attempts to change regime in Islamabad