Al Jazeera News, Islamabad :
With election results from at least 267 of Pakistan’s 272 National Assembly constituencies now in, we can begin to make some sense of what has been an historic vote in the South Asian country, seeing Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerging as the single largest party in parliament for the first time ever.
The PTI has broken the duopoly held by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for decades.
Pakistan has also been directly ruled by the military for roughly half of its 70-year history.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday’s vote:
1.The PTI rode a wave of support across the country
Khan’s PTI will almost certainly form the next government, even though it is just short of the 137 seats needed to take an outright majority on its own. With smaller parties and independents winning
at least 45 seats, it should not be difficult for the PTI to form alliances and elect Khan as prime minister. The PTI’s victory was built on the back of two major wins. First, it was able to wrest much of southern and northern Punjab from the outgoing PML-N, breaking the party’s vote bank in its political heartland. Second, it was able to hold on to most of its seats in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which has historically always voted out its incumbent party. The PTI won the most seats in KP in 2013, but holding on to them represented an historic first.
The outgoing PML-N and other parties that underperformed, unsurprisingly, say it was not, but the Election Commission of Pakistan is standing by the results, saying any complaints should be filed with accompanying evidence. The opposition’s complaints seem to centre on the vote counting process, with at least six political parties alleging their representatives were not allowed to witness the counting process, as mandated by law, and that the final counts were not properly documented. FAFEN, an independent Pakistani election observer network, noted in at least 35 constituencies, the winning margin was less than the number of votes rejected by electoral officials, often a red flag for possible manipulation. The number was similar in 2013.
The EU’s observer mission in Pakistan said while there were positive changes to Pakistan’s legal framework for elections, the polls were “overshadowed by restrictions on freedom of expression and unequal campaign opportunities”. PTI chief Khan – who himself alleged widespread rigging in 2013 – has said his party will fully cooperate with any investigations into the electoral process.
3.With MQM in disarray, megalopolis Karachi votes for change
For the last 35 years, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an ethnic Muhajir party, has ruled Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, with an iron fist. Since late 2013, however, a paramilitary operation has targeted the party’s alleged criminal enterprises, jailing dozens of workers and leaders. The operation finally led to the factionalisation of the party, with chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, unable to maintain control.
As a result, 2018 saw an open fight for the city of Karachi for the first time in decades, and the results were clear: the PTI swept 14 of the city’s 21 seats, beating major MQM leaders along the way. It even managed to beat PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his party’s historical stronghold of the Lyari neighbourhood.
4.Mixed bag for Pakistan’s far-right parties
This election was a mixed bag for Pakistan’s far-right parties, with the newly emerged Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) firmly establishing itself as the dominant hardline Barelvi Sunni Muslim party, but others failing to make an impact. The TLP won two provincial assembly seats in Sindh province but, crucially, emerged as the third-placed party in a number of national constituencies across the country, regularly registering more than 10,000 votes, and going as high as 42,000 in some urban constituencies.
With election results from at least 267 of Pakistan’s 272 National Assembly constituencies now in, we can begin to make some sense of what has been an historic vote in the South Asian country, seeing Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) emerging as the single largest party in parliament for the first time ever.
The PTI has broken the duopoly held by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for decades.
Pakistan has also been directly ruled by the military for roughly half of its 70-year history.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday’s vote:
1.The PTI rode a wave of support across the country
Khan’s PTI will almost certainly form the next government, even though it is just short of the 137 seats needed to take an outright majority on its own. With smaller parties and independents winning
at least 45 seats, it should not be difficult for the PTI to form alliances and elect Khan as prime minister. The PTI’s victory was built on the back of two major wins. First, it was able to wrest much of southern and northern Punjab from the outgoing PML-N, breaking the party’s vote bank in its political heartland. Second, it was able to hold on to most of its seats in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), which has historically always voted out its incumbent party. The PTI won the most seats in KP in 2013, but holding on to them represented an historic first.
The outgoing PML-N and other parties that underperformed, unsurprisingly, say it was not, but the Election Commission of Pakistan is standing by the results, saying any complaints should be filed with accompanying evidence. The opposition’s complaints seem to centre on the vote counting process, with at least six political parties alleging their representatives were not allowed to witness the counting process, as mandated by law, and that the final counts were not properly documented. FAFEN, an independent Pakistani election observer network, noted in at least 35 constituencies, the winning margin was less than the number of votes rejected by electoral officials, often a red flag for possible manipulation. The number was similar in 2013.
The EU’s observer mission in Pakistan said while there were positive changes to Pakistan’s legal framework for elections, the polls were “overshadowed by restrictions on freedom of expression and unequal campaign opportunities”. PTI chief Khan – who himself alleged widespread rigging in 2013 – has said his party will fully cooperate with any investigations into the electoral process.
3.With MQM in disarray, megalopolis Karachi votes for change
For the last 35 years, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an ethnic Muhajir party, has ruled Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, with an iron fist. Since late 2013, however, a paramilitary operation has targeted the party’s alleged criminal enterprises, jailing dozens of workers and leaders. The operation finally led to the factionalisation of the party, with chief Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, unable to maintain control.
As a result, 2018 saw an open fight for the city of Karachi for the first time in decades, and the results were clear: the PTI swept 14 of the city’s 21 seats, beating major MQM leaders along the way. It even managed to beat PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his party’s historical stronghold of the Lyari neighbourhood.
4.Mixed bag for Pakistan’s far-right parties
This election was a mixed bag for Pakistan’s far-right parties, with the newly emerged Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) firmly establishing itself as the dominant hardline Barelvi Sunni Muslim party, but others failing to make an impact. The TLP won two provincial assembly seats in Sindh province but, crucially, emerged as the third-placed party in a number of national constituencies across the country, regularly registering more than 10,000 votes, and going as high as 42,000 in some urban constituencies.
