By-elections’ defeats set alarm bells ringing for PDM

PESHAWAR: The defeats of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) candidates in the by-elections manifested the fact that the alliance has failed to dent the popularity of former prime minister Imran Khan, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where he still enjoys the support.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has won the by-poll on NA-45 in Kurram tribal district. The PTI’s win shows that PDM has proved to be a marriage of convenience rather than a true alliance against Imran Khan. It seems the supporters of the component parties have not voted for the so-called joint candidates of the PDM.

The results of the by-elections in KP show the lack of interest by the supporters of allied parties and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the candidates of the parties concerned hardly received votes from other parties.

Political observers are of the opinion that except for contesting political parties i.e. the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) and the Awami National Party (ANP), the other component parties of the alliance have not shown any interest in the polls.

The cold-shoulder response of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was felt in the by-polls in the KP. Let alone running an active campaign, hardly a sponsored poster or banner was in favour of the ANP or JUIF nominee from the allied parties in the Peshawar, Charsadda and Mardan by-elections.

On the other hand, PTI supporters enthusiastically took part in the election campaign and polling process compared to the rival political parties. And the reason for this could be the Imran Khan factor. However, it is also a fact that PTI still enjoys support in the province. Keeping in view the results of the by-polls it could be difficult, if not impossible, to defeat PTI candidates in the next general election, particularly in KP.

The result could have been different had the PDM not taken the polls for granted and contested the by-polls jointly and wholeheartedly instead of the symbolic alliance. Despite being allies and partners in the federal coalition government, no top leadership from the component parties addressed the election public meetings or ran the election campaign for the contesting candidates against Imran Khan.

It is believed that PDM was a marriage of convenience as most of its component parties have been rivals in the past and definitely these parties would be contesting elections against each other in the future that was the reason their supporters take little interest in supporting the candidates of other parties.

Though the unprecedented price-hike, economic instability and unemployment played a role in the defeat of PDM candidates, it failed to build a narrative like that of Imran Khan who succeeded in diverting public attention from the poor performance of his government and tactically shifted the blame to his rivals.

The lack of trust among PDM parties could be gauged from the fact the alliance and its federal government have so far failed to install its own governor in the province leaving the constitutional post to PTI and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani who is serving as acting governor. Instead of launching a collective struggle, the allied parties are busy lobbying for more power and cabinet berths.