Former Pakistani PM Imran Khan calls for early election after party's upset victory

July 18 (UPI) -- Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday renewed calls for an early election and urged the country's chief election commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja to resign.

Khan's comments came after his PTI party won a landslide 15 of 20 seats in a by-election in the Punjab province.

The by-elections held Monday were called after PTI members of parliament were disqualified for switching their party allegiance to vote for current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's son as chief minister of Punjab.

By-elections are special elections held when seats in the national or provincial assemblies become vacant due to resignation or death, among other factors, according to a Pakistan voter information portal.

Khan has called for the general election to be held before October 2023. Analysts say that some in the rival PML-N party have also already expressed support for an "immediate" early election.

The Punjab province, the most populated in Pakistan, is a stronghold for Sharif, the leader of the governing PML-N party. Sharif ousted Khan as prime minister after a no-confidence vote in April but the by-election loss Monday dealt a blow as the country teeters on political instability.

"I believe this is the moment in the history of Pakistan that we should be thankful for because the nation has awakened," Khan said Monday after the Punjab election victory, according to Dawn. "People have finally understood the ideology of Pakistan."

Khan tweeted Monday that "the only way forward" for Pakistan would be to hold "free and transparent elections."

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

Pakistan's reserve funds have "shrunk by half" since PML-N took power of the country and that the rupee is "declining" despite an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, Khan added.

"[During the by-polls] they used all the tactics to defeat us. Police threatened our people," Khan said according to Dawn. "Officers acted as workers of PML-N."

Khan accused Raja of being biased toward PML-N and said he tried to turn the polls in favor of the rival party, expressing that he was "disappointed" in the chief election commissioner.