The PTI that ruled K-P for nearly eight and a half years has ended up with a bloody nose from no less a rival than the JUI-F whose leadership was the butt of jokes and snide remarks by the ruling party. The religious party, which received a body blow at the hands of the PTI in the last two elections, much like many other political parties including the ANP, has made a surprise comeback bagging the chairmanship and mayorship in 16 sub-districts, with the PTI trailing with just 12 slots.
Not only this, the PTI also lost in the areas and cities where it had single-handedly defeated all the major political parties. For instance, in Peshawar, the citadel of political power, where the PTI had won 5 national and 11 provincial assembly seats in the last general elections, the ruling party has ended up with just one tehsil seat this time around. Many prominent figures in both federal and provincial governments have lost their native tehsils. Surely, the PTI will do some deep soul-searching in the weeks ahead, but it cannot deny the impact of its poor economic policies, the price hike and the power and gas outages that have hit the common man hard — something that many in the government have already acknowledged. This is probably the major factor responsible for the PTI’s defeat in the first round of the local bodies polls.
Like the PTI, the ANP too needs to look inward and probe its rather poor performance. But as usual, PM Imran Khan is seen blaming his loss on the ‘poor’ selection of candidates. It can be predicted that he might lose in coming elections as well. Only time will tell.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2021.
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