Imran Khan Concedes Election Loss In Stronghold, Sign Of Waning Appeal

Imran Khan conceded that his party made "mistakes" but blamed its poor choice of candidates for the outcome. However, a local minister for his party accepted that soaring prices were behind the poor electoral showing.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's ruling party has conceded defeat in local polls in a province it has ruled for eight years, a sign of its dwindling popularity as voters struggle with soaring prices of goods and job losses. PTI made mistakes in 1st phase of KP LG elections & paid the price. Wrong candidate selection was a major cause. From now on I will personally be overseeing PTI's LG election strategy in 2nd phase of KP LG elections & LG elections across Pak. InshaAllah PTI will come out stronger

Opposition parties have won 21 seats, while Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has secured six seats in the polls to elect mayors and other local government officials in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, according to Sohail Ahmad, a spokesperson for the local election commission. Counting for 34 other seats is underway, but provisional results show a similar trend.

Khan's party has won the past two provincial polls, as well as the last local body elections in the region. The final results will be announced on Dec. 24 or later.

"The loss in local body elections in a stronghold of PTI is a reflection of declining PTI support," said Memoona Tanveer, head of corporate and high net worth individuals at Dawood Equities Ltd. "This is mainly due to economic conditions -- low growth, high inflation and high unemployment."