Millions of Pakistanis – those who voted for the Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf on February 8 – spoke against the conventional civil-military forces of the status quo. Never before in history did such a whopping number of Pakistanis – over 50 % of the total 60 million voters – opt for one party that had been the target of an unprecedented witch-hunt of their leaders and workers in the run-up to the elections, particularly since the arrest of Imran Khan after the incident of May 9.
Dozens of PTI leaders went underground to evade arrests after May 9. Scores had succumbed to pressures and publicly dissociated themselves from the party. No corner meetings were allowed. Nor did the mainstream media give any quotable coverage to the PTI activities.
Party candidates faced systemic obstructions such as criminal cases, and raids on homes and businesses as part of intimidation and arrests to deter followers from street protests.
The systemic persecution of the party, particularly since May 9, 2023, only translated into a stunning victory for PTI-backed independent candidates despite all odds.
Writing for the daily Dawn Asad Rahim, succinctly described the circumstances around the elections.
“On one side was the deep state, absurd verdicts from the courts, relentless police brutality, the re-laundered class of 1985, and their boomer cheerleaders in the press. On the other was some kid voting for baingan “(eggplant that the PTI candidate in Islamabad got as an Electoral Symbol), wrote Rahim.
Much shocking was the bitter lesson delivered to the turn-coats – those who had betrayed Imran Khan in testing times. Both the Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) and PTI-Patriot literally bit the dust. Jehangir Tarin himself lost the two seats he contested and his party could win only two of the 266 lower house seats.
Emotional voters in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP), reacted with vengeance and decimated the other faction faction – PTI-Patriots – which could get only one of the 112 provincial assembly seats.
Ex-Interior Minister, Pervez Khattak, who had promised to wipe out Khan’s PTI in the province ended up losing all seven seats that he and his family contested. Another Chief Minister, Mehmood Khan also met with people’s rejection.
Even if the wobbly Election Commission took away the iconic electoral symbol – the cricket BAT – it miserably failed in dampening the anti-status quo sentiment.
Several questions, nevertheless, have been raised over the circumstances after the polling closed on February 8. Allegations of manipulation abound and the legal challenges to the electoral fraud in dozens of constituencies are underway.
Brazen use of power and blatant display of high-handedness witnessed at many polling stations, the disappearance of several returning officers for many hours, and anomalies in critical data have once again exposed how the mighty, well-entrenched political leaders try to have their way.
Also, one wonders to what extent the higher courts and the military establishment ignore the slew of criticism pouring in from abroad.
Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said free and fair elections were a “fundamental cornerstone” of any democracy and must be protected.
“Any allegations of corruption or fraud must be fully investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable. The United States supports the right of the Pakistani people to a democratically elected government that respects the rule of law and human rights.
The U.S. State Department spokesperson, too, had a day earlier condemned the restrictions on access to the internet and suspension of mobile phone services services.
“We join credible international and local election observers in their assessment that these elections included undue restrictions on freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly,” Mathew Miller said.
The party’s literal landslide victory in the KP province and the defeats of most turncoats including Khattak and Tarin bear a bitter and inescapable lesson for all conventional political and non-political forces.; no amount of administrative and legal roadblocks or persecution can block or reduce peoples’ anger with the system.
