ISLAMABAD - The decision of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to participate in the upcoming Senate elections from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has landed the party leaders in an awkward situation as on the one hand the party is dubbing the incumbent parliament an outcome of sham elections but on the other legitimising it by taking part in the elections for upper house of the parliament.
The announcement (to take part in Senate polls from KP) was made by PTI Chairman Imran Khan on his return from Saudi Arabia where he went along with his wife to perform Umrah. It was announced that party MPs would not take back their resignations from National and Punjab assemblies and that PTI would not take part in the Senate polls from the rest of the three provincial assemblies as well as National Assembly, the electoral college for these elections.
After background interviews with political leaders, including some of the key leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and political and constitutional experts, it came to the fore as a unanimous view that the PTI is fast losing its moral strength with its stand on rigging charges seemed wavering.
Some party insiders said that within the party too there is a sharp divide on the issue as some of the senior party leaders are of the view that in the light of party’s stand about the parliament, it should stay away from these elections as participation in the election process for upper house of the parliament means granting approval to the system as legitimate one, which is contrary to the policy stand of the party.
They said that at the time of stepping down from membership of National, Punjab and Sindh assemblies, the party leadership had taken the plea that they could not stay part of the parliament which came into being as a result of rigged elections.
But the PTI had decided to keep running the KP government, with the party MPs saying they decided to continue with the government on demand from their coalition partners - Jamaat-i-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan which were against the dissolution of the assembly.
But by taking the decision of participation in the upcoming Senate elections from the province, the party has landed its leaders in great trouble because they have to defend this stark deviation on part of the party leadership, which for just getting some share in the upper house of the parliament has negated its own stance on the status of the incumbent parliamentary set-up, which according to the party Chairman Imran Khan was based on blatantly rigged general elections where the PTI mandate was stolen and for which the party had staged 120-day-long sit-in in the federal capital and also organised big rallies in major cities across the country.
A veteran parliamentarian from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that Imran was in the habit of changing his position and he was not at all surprised to listen about the PTI deciding to take part in the Senate elections.
“By doing so he will not only be lowering the popularity graph of his party but also dishearten some of his staunch supporters who for now are in the trance of his slogan of transforming Pakistan into a new country,” he said.
Political analysts see it as another retreat of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf saying the decision would not go well with emotional youth who would take a little time to detach from the party. It would also cost the party dearly in terms of popular support.
They further said that the people had started criticising the party for its decision to take part in the upcoming Senate elections from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on social media.
For four or five seats in the upper house, the PTI is placing its whole political future at stake, commented a veteran politician belonging to ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), adding that in the face of vibrant media it would not be easy for any political party to hoodwink the people, and a political party has to pay for its follies be in government or on opposition benches.