By-poll highs and lows

There were no real surprises in the by-polls held on August 22. Just a few ups and downs for the major parties as they contested 26 provincial assembly and 15 National Assembly (NA) seats. For the most part, the patterns of May 11 held true, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) further consolidating its grip on power, particularly in Punjab — the province it considers its home turf. The party won 11 out of 15 provincial seats in the province and five out of six NA seats. The remaining NA seats were divided, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) winning three, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf two and the Awami National Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakhtukhwa Milli Awami Party one each. The PPP’s strong showing in Sindh and the PML-N’s in Punjab also displays before us a divided country.

Results on two NA seats were withheld by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as women were not permitted to vote. Re-ballotting will take place for NA-5, Nowshera, and NA-27, Lakki Marwat, on a date to be announced by the ECP. The immediate notice of bars on women voters taken by the ECP also meant that they were allowed to vote in other constituencies, including Mianwali, after initial attempts to prevent them from doing so. The prompt action taken is welcome and should, we hope, deter candidates and other powerful groups from attempting to strike agreements under which women are kept away from polling stations. It is also a healthy sign that in some areas, women themselves complained to authorities about the denial of their right to vote.

There were, as happens in every election, a few surprises along the way. In NA-71, Mianwali, Imran Khan’s home seat, the PML-N’s Haji Obaidullah Khan Shadi Khel defeated the candidate put up by the party in what is being seen as a shock result. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the ANP made something of a comeback, with Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour winning his traditional seat, NA-1, Peshawar, which had been vacated by Imran Khan who won this historical constituency on May 11. But beyond these results, things went much as expected with places in the NA and provincial assemblies now filled and the polling exercise over.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2013.

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