People have rejected Imran Khan’s style of politics
As expected and also revealed in the pre-poll surveys, the PML-N has managed to retain NA-122 seat and Ayaz Sdiq has returned to the National Assembly. It was undoubtedly a close contest like in the 2013 General Elections. In this constituency Imran Khan thrice lost to Ayaz Sadiq and the fourth time his nominee Aleem Khan has also met the same fate. The result confirms four things i.e., the voters have not changed their preferences since 2013; Lahore remains the bastion of political power of PML-N; Imran’s allegations of Ayaz Sadiq winning on the basis of 53,000 fake votes were nothing but a hoax; and the exponential increase in the vote bank of PML-N during 2013 General Elections as compared to 2008 General Elections occurred due to the growing popularity of the PML-N rather than as a result of the alleged clandestine manoeuvring. These are absolutely irrefutable realities.
The election was conducted in an overall peaceful environment under the vigilant glare of the media and the supervision of the polling stations by the khakis on the demand of PTI and no complaints about any serious irregularity or rigging have come to the fore. The PTI accepted the result though with some reservations. It was hoped that the PTI, unlike in the past, especially Imran Khan, would remain wedded to their acknowledgement of the validity of the result and do not try to find some fault lines to discredit the entire exercise. But regrettably, staying true to his reputation and the past conduct Imran Khan has not been able to overcome his impulsive propensity to indulge in blame-game and finding reasons to hide behind. In a message on Twitter on Monday he said that his party was investigating the number of PTI votes thrown out of NA-122 by-election at the last minute and that he would approach the Election Commission after the completion of the investigation. One day before elections he made a statement that irrespective of the win or loss, the movement would continue.
As for the margin of PML-N victory, which many are interpreting as a narrowing down of the difference between the two parties if the results of 2013 and 2015 by-elections are compared, the notion is not right. They base their conclusion on the difference in the votes polled by each candidate, conveniently forgetting the fact that the turn out in 2013 General Elections in NA-122 was 58.48 percent whereas it has been estimated as 43.10 percent during the by-election. Had the turn out been as high as in the General Elections, the margin of victory would more or less have been the same. The PTI loss in NA-122 and NA-144 where its candidate could secure only seven thousand votes, as well as, the results of all the by-elections for NA seats held after the sit-in prove beyond any doubt that Imran Khan had miserably failed to dent the popularity of PML-N and he was not a game-changing politician or a revolutionary that he would have the people to believe. It is indeed a wake-up call for him to get rid of the delusion about his invincibility and self-righteousness as his credentials and the ground realities are quite contrary to what he believes and has been preaching during the last two and half years.
Khan has overdone the rigging mantra and his repeated escapades to cash on the rhetoric have backfired. His misplaced obsession about rigging has almost descended into the realm of insanity. Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. To begin with, most of the PTI petitions in the Election Tribunals regarding NA elections except three were dismissed on different grounds and even in the cases where re-polling has been ordered it has been done on the basis of irregularities rather than rigging on the part of the winning candidates.
The Judicial Commission headed by the Chief Justice dismissed claims of systematic rigging and held that the result of 2013 elections reflected a genuine mandate of the people. But Imran Khan, despite a written agreement with PML-N made in the wake of setting up of Judicial Commission to accept the verdict ungrudgingly and withdraw his rigging allegations in case his claims were negated by the inquiry report, wriggled out of his commitment and restarted the rigging rhetoric, targeting the Election Commission. In the NA-122 by-election he kept emphasising the same thing but as the result indicates the voters of the constituency have not bought the argument and rather snubbed his propensity to act like a loose cannon and hurl unsubstantiated allegations against his political opponents and the state institutions.
His brand of politics has not endeared him well to the people of Pakistan. He also wears the stigma of a conspiracy to topple the legitimately elected government, introducing violence and lawlessness in politics and recklessly indulging in anti-state actions. I have witnessed many political movements during the last six decades which even turned violent sometimes but never ever the people of Pakistan had to endure the spectacle of attacks on state institutions like PTV and the Parliament which were undoubtedly anti-state acts. Thanks heavens the umpire did not intervene and the country was saved from a drift into an unending political instability. He is very fond of quoting examples from the Western democracies about the democratic norms and adherence to law and constitution but acts quite contrary to them. It is only Pakistan where he has escaped accountability for his anti-state act of attacking state institutions. In the Western democracies this kind of antics are simply unimaginable and anybody committing such indiscretions would surely land in jail for the whole of his life.
Imran needs a serious review of his tactics and designs if he wants to remain relevant to the political landscape of Pakistan. He must understand that revolutions are caused and brought about by the proletariat and not the bourgeoisie or the capitalists that surround him. Even he himself is not a fit case for a revolutionary. His politics so far has proved beyond any iota of doubt that he was only interested in grabbing political power by all means without caring for their legitimacy.
The popularity enjoyed by PML-N reflects the faith of the people in its ability to deliver and its record of having delivered. Describing its mandate as fake is an insult to the genius of the people of Pakistan in the backdrop of the certificate of authentication given by the Judicial Commission. The reason that the people still have their faith in PML-N is that the party during the last two and half years has taken verifiable strides towards resolving the formidable inherited challenges. It has taken on the terrorists with an unswerving resolve which no government could do or had the spine to unfurl.
Zarb-e-Azb has almost broken the back of the terrorists and dismantled their infrastructure in the tribal areas and resultantly incidents of terrorism have considerably declined. A sustained campaign is underway against the sleeping cells of the terrorists throughout Pakistan. National Action Plan is being pursued with unruffled commitment. Karachi is fast returning to normalcy and there has been considerable reduction in acts of terrorism and other crimes. Insurgency in Balochistan has died down and the efforts to bring the exiled Baloch leaders into the political mainstream are proceeding satisfactorily.
And above all the economy of the country, which was in complete mess in 2013 has been revived, a fact corroborated by international lending and rating agencies. Load shedding has been reduced and a number of power producing projects have been initiated, most of which will become functional by the end of 2018. According to Transparency International corruption during the last two years has decreased.
