United against the PTI

As Imran Khan’s PTI is still striving to complete numbers to form government at the Centre and in Punjab, opposition parties are gearing up to give the next government a tough time. Most of the parties have reservations over the results and allege ‘large-scale engineering’ in the polls. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who also head the MMA, in his initial reaction after poll results had announced that he would not take oath. He tried to convince other parties as well, but only to receive a no. The PPP was first to reject his call, followed by the PML-N and other groups.

It now appears certain that all the parties that have secured seats would be part of legislatures. But they would continue to press their demand for investigation into ‘anomalies’ during the polls. The ECP in its reaction to the criticism by opposition parties came up with a hard-hitting statement rejecting allegations of willful wrongdoing. It has hinted at investigating anomalies being pointed out. It has also allowed a selected recount in some 70 constituencies of national and provincial assemblies. There are around 50 constituencies where the margin of victory is thin ranging from few votes to a few hundred votes. The recount process which is to be completed within the next two days might alter results in a few constituencies.

The ECP has hinted at carrying out investigation into the failure of the RTS, an android-based application which was supposed to transmit results immediately. Opposition parties are also likely to press for a parliamentary committee to work on these issues. All these investigations, if conducted in a transparent manner, would help reform the system for the future.

It is still not clear if the opposition parties would coalesce into a joint front, but this much is certain that a PTI government would have to face a very strong opposition. For a relatively new and inexperienced PTI, the more experienced PML-N, PPP, MMA and ANP have many common denominators to work as a united front in and out of parliament. A strong opposition is necessary to keep a check on rulers, but it should not go so far as to create unnecessary hurdles to the functioning of the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2018.

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