Imran says Pakistan by-election ‘a referendum’ on his popularity

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is a candidate for seven of eight national assembly seats up for grabs in a key by-election Sunday, a vote he says is “a referendum” on his popularity.

The by-election is the latest twist in political wrangling that began after Khan’s April 10 ouster via a parliamentary no-confidence vote. 

It comes as the nation grapples with the aftermath of devastating monsoon floods that affected more than 30 million people and left a third of the country under water. Candidates can stand for multiple seats in Pakistan elections. If they win more than one they choose which to keep, and a separate vote must later be held for those forfeited.

It is rare, however, for a candidate to stand for as many seats as Khan is doing Sunday, and his disruptive move is clearly to gauge his popularity. “This is not just a simple election, it’s a referendum,” he told a rally late Friday in Karachi, the bustling port city in the south of the nation of 220 million.

Khan has held dozens of rallies since being ousted -- drawing crowds of tens of thousands -- and has vowed soon to announce the date of a “long march” of his supporters on the capital, Islamabad.