Awarding party tickets

PTI has broken new grounds by awarding as many as 80% of party tickets to newcomers.

For decades now, winning elections in Pakistan has been almost formulaic. Give party tickets to those who, it is safe to assume, will get elected, or as some allege, even buy the electables. The profile of a common nominee is one who will bring in votes based on his profile as a feudal lord, pir, capitalist or other such leader who, it is safe to assume, will win the election. But over the years, most of these politicians have been tried, and tested, with the only change in politics being their changing parties. When targeting a new constituency, parties usually opt for these safer candidates; the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), however, has broken new grounds, by awarding as many as 80 per cent of party tickets to newcomers, with 600 of its 800 ticket holders being debutantes. This is the first time a political party is taking such a big political risk. Moreover, as much as 35 per cent of the tickets have been given to people under the age of 40.

While it is common knowledge that most of those eligible for voting in Pakistan are under the age of 30, there has been much debate on how the numbers in this group can be made to translate into votes. Giving young people party tickets in such huge numbers is a novel way of using the electoral strength represented by this voting bloc. The PTI is also trying to raise funds to enable these young candidates to conduct their election campaign successfully by asking people to contribute to the “Naya Pakistan Fund”. Imran Khan is, of course, a proven fundraiser, and this may just break the tradition of only the wealthy being able to run for elections.

The inclusion of these newcomers comes across as a fresh breeze in the political scene and may lead to an increase in confidence in Imran Khan, as it negates the impression that he may not live up to his promises. If these “non-electables” manage to garner enough votes, whatever the position of the PTI post-elections, it will be safe to say that the politics of the country would have been changed substantially.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2013.