AS legal battle is on to ensure transparency in the upcoming elections of the Senate, by-elections held in several constituencies of the National and the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and KP were marred by violence as well as allegations of use of unfair means by both sides making mockery of their claims about their commitment to poll’s transparency.
The stakes were so high that rival groups resorted to free for all attacks on each other leading to killing of two voters and injuries to many more.
The outcome of the by-election would not have any significant impact on the numerical strength of the ruling and the opposition parties but the election assumed importance due to Senate polls where each and every vote would matter and in terms of gauging popularity of the parties after end of about half the tenure of the present assemblies.
The parties attached so much importance to the exercise that the Special Advisor of the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar resigned from the office to take practical part in canvassing for the party in his home town, which he was, otherwise, not entitled to do.
The victory of PML(N) in Punjab is not dramatic as it had won these seats in 2018 general election as well but it has meanings for the ruling party as the results show PML(N) is still favoured by voters as before and PTI could not make any dent into its popularity despite having a chance to govern the province efficiently and win hearts of the people.
The victory of the PML(N) candidate in the otherwise stronghold of PTI in Nowshera should be an eye-opener for the ruling party as it is in power in the province for the second term. It is time for PTI to have a serious self-appraisal to ponder over reasons that led to its electoral defeat in Punjab, Sindh and KP.
Not much time is left for general election and the party should improve governance, avoid taking measures that add to the economic and financial burden of the people and devise ways and means to provide much-needed relief to different segments of the society.
At the same time, the ideal of transparent polls must not be confined to the Senate and both the treasury and the opposition benches should sit-together and complete the task of reforming the electoral system.
Violence and allegations of rigging are also a reminder that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is still not as independent and effective as it should have been despite lip-service to grant of more powers and autonomy to the body.
