Nazia Nazar
Recently, international media raised hullabaloo that the general elections in Pakistan were being influenced by the military in cooperation with judiciary, and what they said, the aim was to defeat PML-N in the elections. This interference is nothing but part of the hybrid/fifth generation warfare being waged against Pakistan. The presence of large number of international observers was reflective of the fact that the state of Pakistan was against rigging and had provided a level playing field to all the political parties in a very candid manner. Hence, the fact that the neutral international organizations had closely monitored the elections and expressed satisfaction in that regard, belied claims of the western media about rigging of elections. Election observers from the European Union said that election 2018 was conducted better than the 2013 election.
The chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Pakistan Michael Gahler said that apart from a few incidents of terrorism, the overall situation of the general election was quite satisfactory. “Our observers have visited more than 300 polling station in 87 constituencies; we will release our preliminary report on Friday, and a detailed report will be released later after assessing the overall situation, one can clearly see an improvement as compared to the previous election held in 2013”, Gahler stated while talking to media. He said the army adhered to the code of conduct very strictly. A member of the team said they had been invited by the government to observe the elections, and added that the procedure was smooth and peaceful, and he saw many people coming to vote. Indeed, the people of Pakistan had thronged polling stations to exercise their right to vote.
It has been reported that Rs. 2 billion were distributed by PML-N to national and international media to cover period from 6th July 2018 to the election-day and beyond to frame narratives in their favour. Fact of the matter is that the candidates participating in elections weigh their best chances in respective constituencies and take positions based on their assessment. Since the constitution allows them to form new parties or leave old parties within a specified period, military should not be blamed for the positions taken by the individual candidates and groups. When Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan got the symbol “Jeep” followed by a dozen other independents requesting for that symbol, rumors were abound that they were backed by the military establishment. Since most of them including Ch. Nisar have been routed in the elections, it means that it was propaganda campaign against the establishment.
Looking at history of elections since 1980s, it is a norm that 40-60% of candidates form new blocks or change parties. All major parties (PML-N, PML-Q, PPP, MMA) have benefited from this phenomenon in the past 35 years. In fact, after 2008 elections, PML-N was instrumental in creating forward block in PML-Q. Twenty-four members of the PML-Q forward block in Punjab Assembly had met the then Pakistan Muslim League-N Punjab President Zulfikar Khosa in Lahore and assured the PML-N their support. PML-Q MPAs had also assured that they would not become a part of any effort to destabilize the province’s PML-N government. They had also agreed to name their group the Unification Block, and believed they can no longer ignore the popular mandate given to the Nawaz-league by the voters and must support the provincial government.
This time round, same bunch of MPAs decided to leave the PML-N and they participated in the elections as independents, whereas about seven electables from South Punjab joined Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. Anyhow, people in general were wary of PML-N government because of ever-rising prices of edibles and utilities. They also rejected Nawaz Sharif’s narrative of denigrating the institutions. Last but not the least, a positive signal also emanated from broad-section of the people, as of late they started thinking about the social inequities that have permeated the society. Voltaire had said: “When once a nation begins to think it is impossible to stop it”. During elections campaign, candidates like Jamal Leghari, Sikandar Bosan and others were questioned by their voters as to what they had done during the last five years? Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbassi also lost in the election due to his support to Nawaz Sharif’s narrative.
