With PTI in hot water, other parties eyeing its vote bank in Karachi

KARACHI: It was only Karachi in the province of Sindh that gave a significant number of national and provincial assembly seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the last general elections of 2018.

However, as the party seems to be in trouble with its leader in jail and the powers that be apparently not in the favour of giving it a level playing field, the coming general elections may not be the same for the party.

Some analysts even fear that the party may not be allowed to run its election campaign. If that happens, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Jamaat-e-Islami would get an opportunity to capture the PTI’s vote bank. They believe that the only party that would not get any electoral advantage of the weak PTI is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as PTI supporters would deliberately vote against it.

Commenting on the political situation in Karachi, journalist Faizullah Khan told The News that it was not entirely true that the establishment was solely responsible for the PTI’s success in the 2018 general elections. The party and its chairman Imran Khan were highly popular among the people of the country, he said, adding that the PTI had addressed the issues which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), PPP and MQM-P had intentionally neglected.

He said the credit goes to the PTI for setting new trends before the 2018 elections as the party worked extensively to reach out to the public through social media and targeting the youth, women, overseas Pakistanis and those sections of society that had little representation in the traditional politics of the PPP and PML-N.

Faizullah did not agree with the MQM-P’s claim that its seats were taken away in the 2018 elections and given to the PTI. He said the MQM-P had already lost public support due to its violent politics, which led to its defeat in the polls.

The journalist said it appeared that the PTI may not be allowed to run its campaign before the general elections. The party, he said, has already been complaining that its leaders and workers are being dragged in unnecessary court cases to prevent their participation in the elections.

He added that the PTI chairman was still popular and if given the level playing field, the party could easily win several seats from Karachi.

According to the journalist, if the party could not run its campaign, its seats may be divided among various parties, but that would deprive the people of Karachi of their true representation in the houses.

“It’s also true that the PTI’s organisational structure has been badly affected, negatively impacting the party’s political activities. The leaders who are still loyal to Imran Khan or still attached to the party are trying to gather masses on various occasions, but law enforcement agencies disrupt their efforts immediately.”

He also mentioned rifts within the PTI ranks in Karachi, saying that leaders of the PTI did not trust one another. Journalist Naimat Khan believes that if the PTI or any political party was denied a level playing field, the elections could no longer be considered transparent.

However, he remarked that the question whether the PTI would make an impact in Sindh, especially Karachi, must be answered in the context of the province and the bustling metropolis, the political dynamics of which significantly differed from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI had a strong presence.

He stated that in Karachi, the MQM-P has been regrouping and despite the boycott the MQM faction led by its founder, it was likely to secure some seats due to its vigorous campaign and the merger of the Pak Sarzameen Party with it.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, he said, had also emerged as a major player in the general elections, thanks to the party’s activism and vocal stance on Karachi’s issues.

He also did not rule out the possibility of the PPP clinching some seats from the city. He said the coming elections in Karachi would be different for the PTI than the last ones because the party had not addressed the city’s problems after getting its mandate and also failed to organise itself effectively. Naimat, however, agreed that Imran’s factor would again draw many to polling stations.

Another journalist Arman Sabir believes that the PTI was currently facing a situation similar to what the MQM faced in 2016.

He maintained there were no chances that the PTI would perform up to the mark in the general elections in Sindh. Even if the party had a level playing field, the people of Karachi would surely ask PTI leaders about the promises they had made to them before the 2018 elections, the journalist added.

According to Sabir, no mega projects were initiated in Karachi during the PTI’s government and many of its voters now believed that it would make no difference whether they voted for the PTI or any other party.

He said the MQM-P and GDA would exploit the situation and try to replace the PTI in Karachi and Sindh, and they had already started their campaign. He said the PPP would not benefit from the PTI’s situation as the 15-year performance of the party was a big factor for the voters.