Sharing gains, mirroring losses

On Sunday, by-elections were held for 11 National Assembly and 24 provincial assembly seats

The country’s political chessboard may not nearly resemble the arrangements drawn from the results of the July 25 general elections following Sunday’s by-elections for 11 National Assembly and 24 provincial assembly seats but they have certainly turned on its head the notion that by-poll exercises are a political irrelevance.

In fact, these contests are no longer as dull as in the past and have assumed the status of close, nail-biting finishes—a refreshing change that hopefully our electorate can build upon. This is a testament of faith also for the country’s democracy, offering immeasurable proof of the fairness of the electoral process.

Both the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the opposition alliance led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz managed to increase their tally of seats by five and six seats, respectively, and weighing in on the nomenclature of the federal and provincial legislatures. If anything, the government can come away smiling magnanimously but not entirely satisfied with the by the outcome of the by-elections — nor should they be.

Somewhere along the way it seems the voters have abruptly ended their life-long love affair with personality-driven electoral politics the kind that allowed PTI chief Imran Khan to win from multiple constituencies, including Lahore and Bannu, but blocked out his party men from retaining the same.

Since the reversal came a little over two months after the stunning victory of PTI in the parliamentary election, it is premature to interpret the loss to the electorate falling out with one particular party or alliance at the expense of another. It is, however, reflective of the petulant nature of government-inspired politics.

Governments by their very nature create early fatigue and seemingly lose their lustre and charm with the voting public unless of course they can re-invent themselves and deliver results quickly and efficiently. If there is any single fault of PTI leaders, as it has been for other parties too, they have taken their popularity for granted.

Any by-election success ought to have been built on miracle actions and deeds. In hindsight, harder campaigning stood out between those on the winning and losing sides.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2018.

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