PTI Chairman stated that he accepted the election results despite reservations, but did not withdraw his allegations.
ISLAMABAD: Politicians seldom do what they preach. Those in power do what they want to, not what the system and state demand. The 2013 election conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) under the supervision of the judiciary (returning officers drawn from it) were criticised by all, even the winners.
Subsequently, when the dust settled, the winners formed governments in areas where they had won. However, the stance of the PTI in this matter is mind-boggling. It formed a government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and voiced serious concerns over rigging and manipulation of results. The chairman of the PTI stated that he accepted the results despite reservations, but did not withdraw his allegations about wrongdoing. This is tantamount to applying double standards to accept where his party won and accuse the ECP where it (the PTI) lost.
Similarly, the PPP and the PML-N blame the MQM for their losses in Karachi and the PPP, the MQM and the PTI accuse the PML-N for excesses in Punjab. Finally, the ANP blamed the PTI and religious groups for interference in the by-elections that were held later in K-P. In short, every party is quick to blame others when it loses. If all the allegations are true, we have an election whose results shouldn’t be believed at all, but this will only lead to a situation of anarchy and confusion.
The only way forward is for all parties to sit together and agree that although the entire process had severe weaknesses, they are going to move forward and put systems and procedures in place to avoid such things in future.
Raja Shafaatullah
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2013.
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