A vote for Aslam Gill

Gill joined the PPP at the peak of the movement against Ziaul Haq in 1979.

Aslam Gill, a die-hard PPP worker from Lahore, yesterday learned, the hard way, how cruel the game of politics is.

Sitting pretty with 104 MPAs, it should have been easy for the party to elect two senators from the province. But many switched sides, ditching the old comrade and helping an independent, supported by the PML-N. It was either sheer inability on part of the PPP to do the arithmetic or else members from south Punjab were swayed by Mohsin Leghari. The fact is that the PPP lost a crucial seat in the Punjab while the PML-Q, with only 28 loyal voters, saw its candidate Kamil Agha elected.

Gill is no stranger to the party. He joined the PPP at the peak of the movement against Ziaul Haq in 1979. He was sent to prison several times during 1979-1986. When Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in 1986, Gill was PPP’s Lahore region president and helped organise the historic reception BB received. Within the party, he was aligned with Jehangir Badr, who was instrumental in securing him the senate ticket.

Before the elections, the PPP had formed two panels of 47 members each to ensure that the two party nominees, Babar Awan and Aslam Gill, win. So where did the political strategists go wrong? It’s a question that according to PPP workers, only Raja Riaz or Governor Latif Khosa can answer. They were the party’s ‘strategists’.

If Raja Riaz was handling the elections then the result is not surprising. Perhaps, the task was too big for the opposition leader, who has never shown any signs of political sagacity in the Punjab Assembly.

Throughout his tenure, he has been found wanting when it comes to leading the party and has never participated in or even prepared for important debates in the house.

Apparently while the panels were told who their first choice should be, nothing was said about whom should get the second priority vote. The election results clearly indicate that there were members who did not vote for Gill as a first priority and instead chose Mohsin Leghari.

After losing the election, a dumb-founded Gill held his panel of MPAs responsible for his loss. According to him, many of them had “switched sides”.

Some party workers blamed Babar Awan for Gill’s defeat. They said that the party was too focused on Awan’s election and let Gill lose. The workers were also upset with Aitzaz Ahsan, Qamar Zama Kaira, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Qasim Zia for not being able to handle what they called a straightforward election.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2012.