Marginal victory of Qadir Gilani
Saturday, July 21, 2012 - ABDUL Qadir Gilani, son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has succeeded in winning the bye-elections with a small margin against the claims by the PPP that it would be a walkover. The elections turned out to be a neck ‘n’ neck fight and the victory was a face saving for the PPP.
Another reason for the victory of Qadir Gilani was that his father Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has his own clout and it is an ancestral seat, which had been mostly occupied by the Gilani family since the creation of Pakistan. Yet another reason for the win is that other political parties including the PML-N and PTI did not put up their candidates and left it for the PPP for smooth sailing. But in our view independent candidate Shaukat Bosan, though claiming to be enjoying support of opposition parties, gave a tough time and did remarkably well. Therefore the marginal victory for Gilani junior shows that all is not well for the PPP and Yusuf Raza Gilani in Multan. The bye-elections in Multan should serve as a wake up call to the PPP. If one takes into account the record of previous elections in Pakistan, the ruling party always suffered defeat at the hand of the opposition party because people get disenchanted with the rulers and they opt for the alternative with the hope that they might get some relief from the new government. As the time for elections approaches, there is great discontentment among the people due to unprecedented load-shedding, unemployment, increasing poverty and mounting inflation and these factors would weigh heavily in the minds of the people when they would go for exercising their right to franchise. Therefore, it is high time for the ruling party to read between the lines and take immediate and practical steps to redress the grievances of the masses because after remaining in power for full term of five years, it would have no excuse to justify its failures in meeting the expectations of the electorates.
Another reason for the victory of Qadir Gilani was that his father Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has his own clout and it is an ancestral seat, which had been mostly occupied by the Gilani family since the creation of Pakistan. Yet another reason for the win is that other political parties including the PML-N and PTI did not put up their candidates and left it for the PPP for smooth sailing. But in our view independent candidate Shaukat Bosan, though claiming to be enjoying support of opposition parties, gave a tough time and did remarkably well. Therefore the marginal victory for Gilani junior shows that all is not well for the PPP and Yusuf Raza Gilani in Multan. The bye-elections in Multan should serve as a wake up call to the PPP. If one takes into account the record of previous elections in Pakistan, the ruling party always suffered defeat at the hand of the opposition party because people get disenchanted with the rulers and they opt for the alternative with the hope that they might get some relief from the new government. As the time for elections approaches, there is great discontentment among the people due to unprecedented load-shedding, unemployment, increasing poverty and mounting inflation and these factors would weigh heavily in the minds of the people when they would go for exercising their right to franchise. Therefore, it is high time for the ruling party to read between the lines and take immediate and practical steps to redress the grievances of the masses because after remaining in power for full term of five years, it would have no excuse to justify its failures in meeting the expectations of the electorates.
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