It is ironic that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahbaz Sharif found humor and mockery in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s slip of tongue on Monday at an election rally since the former Punjab chief minister himself committed a major faux pas when he promised his electricity-starved supporters that if elected to power, he would eradicate electricity from the country in two years.
As the story goes, Imran Khan had become the subject of ridicule when, in the heat of the moment, he had asked his supporters to vote for the ‘Tiger’, his rival party’s election symbol. Shahbaz Sharif mocked the PTI chairman in his election rally on Tuesday, saying even his rival party’s leader wanted his supporters to vote for the PML-N.
Barely a few minutes later, however, the former chief minister, caught in the exhilaration of the rally, called out to his supporters, “Brothers and sisters, if you promise that PML-N’s vote will not be divided in Punjab, if you promise to vote for Nawaz Sharif, I promise I will end electricity in two years.” He then proceeded to wave gleefully at his supporters, not realising the gravity of his slip of tongue.
Punjab has been facing severe electricity load shedding crisis over the last five years. It has gotten progressively worse, forcing the caretaker government to release funds to provide electricity to the province, where the power crisis had shut down industries, caused massive unemployment and damage to the economy.
In another humorous twist, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been running campaign commercials on TV, taking extracts of Shahbaz’s promises to end load shedding over the tenure of his last government, mocking him for not living up to his word.
This slip of tongue, then, definitely comes at a bad time for the former chief minister, a fact that will definitely not be lost on his rivals in the election race.