Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) demands of electoral reforms will have little effect on by-poll results for K-P Assembly seat PK-68, DI Khan-V. The winner, in all likelihood, will either be a landlord or a candidate with the backing of the constituency’s influential families.
There are 13 candidates vying for the Paharpur seat, but the by-election is likely to be a two-horse race between independent Makhdom Mureed Kazim Shah and PTI’s Ehtesham Javed Akbar.
The seat fell vacant when the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld the DI Khan Election Tribunal’s decision to disqualify Javed Akbar Khan for producing a fake degree. The independent candidate won the seat during the 2013 general election, but supported the PTI-led government in the K-P Assembly.
The party decided to give a ticket to his son Ehtesham for the by-polls.
A landlord, Javed won the seat after 14 years of not succeeding in polls, but luck chose not to smile down upon him and he was disqualified over a fake degree, a discrepancy discovered after a year and two months of staying in power. His son, the PTI candidate, is likely to face stiff competition at the polls as many political families have thrown their weight behind Shah.
Missing PTI support
A DI Khan-based journalist and writer for Urdu daily Sadaehaq, Chaudhry Inamullah, said “Javed succeeded in winning a PTI ticket for his son, hoping the party would extend its complete support.”
Inamullah added, “However, as PTI is busy protesting in Islamabad, the father and son have been left to fend for themselves during the election campaign.”
Local influential figures, such as Pir Pathan and Khawaja Attaullah Makhdom who play a key role in the constituency’s politics, extended their support to Shah. Other prominent figures like Sajjada nasheen Sultan Bahoo, Sultan Muhammad Ali as well as leaders of Awami National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamiat Ulema-Islam-Fazl also decided to stand behind the independent candidate. Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement decided not to field a candidate against Shah.
“I am grateful to Maulana Fazlur Rehman for extending his support,” Shah told the media in DI Khan. “With his party’s backing, the PTI candidate will be in no position to challenge me and will face certain defeat.”
At least 127,617 voters are registered in PK-68, DI Khan-V or Paharpur. In the 2013 elections, voter turnout was 66.44% and Javed won by a margin of over 10,000 votes.
It seems the influence of families and who they support will still determine the winner of these by-polls.
While ‘Naya Pakistan’ and electoral reforms regularly punctuate the speeches of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri in Islamabad, traditional processes of selection remain visible on ground in DI Khan. It is said that PTI, the party demanding change, is also seeking the support of landlords and influential figures.
Many observers feel unless PTI becomes a symbol of change itself, the slogans of its leaders will have no effect on ground realities, most of all in the remote areas of Pakistan, where people are not as plugged into the rhetoric aired from the federal capital.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2014.
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Being landlord is not an issue. Being honest is the real thing. If a land lord have a kind heart, I will support him to be a PTi memeber. Its not necessary that poors are only honest or only poor can bring change.