Election 2018: Disgruntlement in the air
PTI, PMLN, PPP and others are facing internal and external backlash over party ticket distribution.
(WebDesk) General Elections 2018 have revealed the prevailing situation within various parties of Pakistan. PTI, PMLN, PPP, MQM and every other party are facing severe internal and external backlash especially from the politicians who have not been awarded tickets.
PTI bearing the brunt of electables
PTI was the first party from where the voice of disgruntlement rose, may be because of the fact that it started awarded tickets before any other party. No one expected dispute within PTI to extent it has raised. Candidates who could not gain party’s ticket resorted to contesting independently.
Also Read: Party ticket issue: Rift breaks out as PTI ignores new, old leaders
One of the stronger candidates is Nawab of Kalabagh Malik Waheed Khan who gained 76,684 votes from NA 95. He has been denied ticket owing to internal clashes. Ayla Malik is also supporting him, undoubtedly, an alarming situation for PTI. Similar situation exists in Okara where previously Azhar Mehmood Chaudary received 16,000 votes in his constituency; he was not allotted ticket this time.
From Lodhran, Aman Ullah Khan took 40, 000 votes, which is quite a good number, but he was not lucky this time. Alarming news is from NA 181 where Mian Shabir Ali decided to contest against PTI’s big gun Mustafa Khar.
In Vehari, ex-district president Khalid Mehmood Chohan will contest from NA 162 as an independent candidate. He has strong presence in this constituency and this will definitely break the vote bank of PTI.
From Jhang, ex-deputy district president Doctor Abu al-Hassan Ansari will contest from PP 126 and this can prove to be one of the biggest setbacks for PTI.
Just recently, the tussle between proponents of PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jahangir Tareen surfaced.
Also Read: Jahangir Tareen, Shah Mehmood exchange barbs
There are many other candidates who spent good time with PTI but owing to non-issuance of ticket, they will contest independently and this, for sure, will damage PTI. According to data gathered by Dunya Election Cell, owing to internal rifts PTI may lose 6 seats of National Assembly and 7 of Provincial assembly
Also Read: PTI vs PTI, in the battle for votes
PMLN: what is ahead?
The situation in PML-N’s campaign also seems to be identical. Some of its bigwigs are furious for a long period of time. Chaudary Nisar, Zulifqar Khosa, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, and others have been expressing their resentment from time to time. Almost all of them have openly revolted against PML-N except Chaudary Nisar.
Chaudhary will now be contesting from NA 59 and NA 63 as an independent. Both of these constituencies have been the political hub of Chaudary Nisar. Chaudary Nisar will fight against PML-N independently. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday has decided not to field candidate against estranged Chaudhry Nisar in general elections 2018.
Also Read: Election 2018: Peeved Nisar, abandoning PMLN and battlegrounds of NA 59 and NA 63
Out of blue, Zaeem Qadri blurted out and explained the reason for him leaving the party. He expressed just similar concerns as were shared by Chaudary Nisar. He bluntly rejected polishing boots of Hamza Shabaz. His conference was filled with thrilling remarks against Hamza Shahbaz.
Jiyalas kept the ideology aside and from Karachi to Kashmore internal wrangle regarding awarding of ticket is still going on.
As compared to other parties, the situation in PPP in Punjab and KP is not so severe may be because of the fact that a very few number of people from these provinces are not interested in getting its tickets.The tussle exists in Sindh. For instance, in Sukkur district council (DC) chairman Muhammad Aslam Sheikh resigned because his brother was not issued ticket. He is of the view that his family has been supporting Khurshid Ahmed Shah and PPP for many years but got nothing in response.The major setback to PPP would be from Shirazi group who has extensive presence in internal Sindh especially in Thatta. They are so influential that they won independently in 2013. They won four provincial and one National Assembly seat from Thatta.
Former PPP MPA Ghulam Sarwar Siyal left PPP with his family on ticket issues. They left PPP because it awarded ticket to Altaf Hussain Unnar, one of their foes.
In other part of Sindh, similar circumstances exist and will further explore as and when stakeholders reach to the final stage of general elections.
A highly fragmented MQM
MQM, the fourth largest party of Pakistan, is also suffering a lot in this regard. First it separated its ways from London and became MQM-Pakistan. It further divided into two parties Bahadurabad and PIB Colony groups. The prior group rejected the leadership of Farooq Sattar.
Bahadurabad group is being headed by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Amir Khan, Waseem Akhtar majorly. Amid the prevailing scenario, both the groups joined hands and have decided to contest election in unison.
Also Read: MQM-P factions united, but still poles apart
2018 – A year of democratic transition with internal and external rifts in parties
All the four parties are in the whirlpool of political conflict. Majority of the candidates who have not been awarded tickets have decided to go independently. 2018 will definitely be a year of democratic transition, but it will also test the loyalties of various politicians who have been claiming to be loyal with their parties.
Written by Junaid Ali Malik
