People’s choice: Youth, women votes guide PTI to victory

Thousands of new voters aged between 18 and 25 came out on Election Day to vote for the party.

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerged victorious in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) following the historic general elections after receiving a majority of women and youth votes.

While older and middle-aged voters preferred to vote in favour of candidates representing traditional parties, the youth, especially college and university students, fully supported the PTI by visiting polling stations in huge numbers on Election Day.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Adnan Sarwar, Chairperson of the International Relations Department at the University of Peshawar (UoP), said the youth’s participation in politics was a good omen for democracy.

“The youth of Pakistan in general, and K-P in particular, is very patriotic which is why PTI’s slogans of bringing change and ‘Naya Pakistan’ motivated them to reject parties which swept the polls in 2008,” Sarwar said.

He added thousands of new voters aged between 18 and 25 came out on Election Day and around 80% of them voted for the PTI.  According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, the total turnout was 60% while Sarwar said the youth turnout was 50%.

Interestingly, women in both rural and urban areas were also seen voting on May 11.

Soniya Ambreen, who heads the Political Science Department at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, said it was the first time in K-P’s history that women had participated in the elections with such fervour. Ambreen said a majority of female students voted for the PTI because around 25% of the party’s ticket holders were youngsters below the age of 35. No other party catered to this section of society, she added.

“This is real democracy,” Ambreen said, adding she herself witnessed students of all disciplines actively sharing their views and comments regarding politics on social media forums during the election campaign.

“The people of K-P and Fata are not safe even inside their homes today because of the previous government’s policies,” said Muhammad Abbas, a student of Sociology at UoP. “We wanted peace and change which is why we voted for PTI.” Abbas also said Imran Khan had showed himself to be a great leader, claiming this was the reason he was supported by the youth.

Saiful Islam, a student of the Political Science Department, said the previous government had worked for its own interests only. He expressed hope that the PTI would work for the development of the country.

“I personally ran a campaign for the PTI, and all of my classmates and friends voted for the party,” he said. “I hope the party will fulfil the promises it made during its campaign.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.