Lessons from by-elections

Politics as it should be

The PML-N and PTI need to draw the right conclusions from the by-elections held on Sunday. While the PML-N managed to win NA-122, the margin was paper thin despite the fact that unlike 2013 Ayaz Sadiq was facing a district level politician with little charisma. The loss of PP-147 which falls within NA-122 further indicates that there is little for the PML-N to feel proud of. The party also lost NA-144 to an independent candidate supported by a PTI MPA. The PML-N used all means at its disposal, some not entirely in consonance with the code of conduct, but could only retrieve NA-122 by the skin of its teeth. This shows that Lahore, or for that matter Punjab, cannot be taken for granted by the PML-N at the next elections when it will have to contest the polls without the resources available to it as the party in power. The PML-N leadership needs to do some soul searching to find why there is a slippage in its popularity.

The humiliating defeat in NA-144 and the failure to get its candidate elected in NA-122 should make PTI review its fixation with extra-parliamentary politics which has harmed the system without adding to the party’s appeal. The tendency has in fact disillusioned a whole lot of youth who were earlier attracted to the PTI. Imran Khan has done little to put an end to factionalism which constitutes the major bane of his party. The factor has negatively affected the hustings. There is also a tendency on the part of the PTI leaders to rely too much on Imran Khan’s glamour, thus neglecting the necessary groundwork.

It is time for Imran Khan to bid farewell to rabble rousing and return to Parliament. The forum provides him the right avenue to keep a check on the government’s excesses with the help of the rest of the Opposition. He can raise his stature and the popularity of his party by making a better use of Parliament.