Looming trouble: NA-133 by-election a test of the PTI’s plummeting popularity
The ruling party has a lot on its plate at the moment with rising commodity, fuel, and energy prices and amidst all that it is gearing to participate in an upcoming by-election in a constituency it lost previously.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has not fared well in past elections in NA-133 which comprises densely populated areas of Lahore and is known as a stronghold for the PTI’s opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The constituency’s people have been devoid of representation in the National Assembly after the demise of PML-N Lahore chapter’s central leader Pervez Malik, who won here in the 2018 general election.
The uphill battle that the PTI faces, apart from its opposition’s strength, is down to its overall performance in Punjab and the country. Voters in NA-133, while talking to The Express Tribune, maintained that the incumbent government is responsible for such high inflation and unemployment. “During the last three years the government has not given any relief to the people and has added to their financial miseries,” expressed several angry voters.
Prospects of a PTI win are slim, according to an elderly citizen Abdul Qadir. “Prices of electricity, gas, and petrol have skyrocketed during the last three years,” a frustrated Qadir said, “while flour, sugar, ghee and pulses have all become so expensive that it has become difficult for the common man to make ends meet.” Qadir’s sentiments are shared by a significant number of voters all over NA-133 and most of them like Qadir had the same inquiry, “do we have permission to panic now?”
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Shabbir Ahmed, a retired government employee from the same constituency, while talking to The Express Tribune informed that he had voted for the PTI because Imran Khan promised a new Pakistan for the common man. “In three years inflation has reached such record highs that I can no longer identify as a middle-class citizen,” Ahmed lamented.
Local PTI leaders and activists share the frustration of the constituency’s residents with many fearing that a repeat performance of the Daska by-election, in which the PTI’s Asjad Malhi lost to the PML-N candidate, was on the horizon. However, the party’s nominee to contest on the seat Jamshed Iqbal Cheema remains optimistic. “The previous governments have destroyed the economy and we are working hard to get it back on its feet,” Cheema said while talking to The Express Tribune. He further added that the pandemic had made matters worse but recovery would come soon. Cheema who currently serves as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Food Security has contested on a PTI ticket twice before and lost both times to a PML-N candidate. However, this record has not dampered Cheema’s hopes as he predicted a PTI victory.
While the PML-N is hopeful of a win in the consistency to continue its winning streak from recently concluded cantonment polls, it has yet to reach consensus on a candidate. PML-N leader Imran Ali Goraya said that the party was working to capitalise on the mistakes of the sitting government that has made life miserable for the people. “Those who voted for PTI are now regretting it and we will soon nominate a candidate for this constituency that works in their best interests,” he informed The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 18th, 2021.