Nothing could be further from truth than PPP referring to large scale allegations of electoral rigging as reason for their wipeout from Punjab. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won landslide not from Sindh but Punjab also because he won hearts and minds of the people by giving them hope amidst promises of reforms and social justice. PTI benefitted from PPP’s loss in KP and Punjab and it can gain in the next elections, if it treads path of constitutional struggle and waits for the fallout from PML-N’s incumbency factor plus poor governance style of Nawaz Sharif, whose decision making capacity has left most loss making SOE without a credible CEO and obstinacy not to tax the rich.
There has never been a vote in Punjab based on ethnicity. PPP’s poor performance at polls in 2013 was because of its poor governance, corruption, worsening law and order situation, abject neglect of rise in terrorism and their perceived patronisation of criminal mafia, land grabbers and black economy. There was this endless saga of plunder in PSM, PIA, CAA, NICL, PSO, OGRA, EOBI, TCP, Railways etc by semi-literate cronies of PPP hierarchy and jobs being sold to burden already surplus staffed state owned enterprises. Not even Hajj and Umra pilgrims were spared agony inflicted by insatiable greed of those at helm. So callous and almost wild West like was their attitude that illegal land grabbing by members of ruling party were shown on live private television, while facilitation offices for speedy delivery of irregularities conducted openly from camp houses. Their contempt for judiciary and accountability was repulsive.
The PML-N won more because of a backlash against PPP than its own manifesto. In addition to this, even with all his faults, Punjab provincial government headed by Shahbaz fared far better in comparison to other provincial governments. Billions were earmarked for development in Sindh but there is nothing to show on ground. Not that Punjab became a heaven but wherever a problem occurred the CM was seen trying to make things work. So people voted for the choices they had and PPP suffered a humiliating defeat because it had failed miserably in the past five years.
Malik T Ali
Lahore
