he Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) clear victory – securing 15 out of 20 seats – in by-elections in the Punjab has, once again, triggered the debate regarding the future and relevance of ‘electables’ in Pakistan. According to chatter on social media, there are two narratives: one claims that the era of electables has come to an end and they have become irrelevant to the politics, while the other asserts that they still matter and are relevant at both local and national political levels. Advocates of the former suggest that Imran Khan’s popular narratives – particularly anti-American stance – have challenged their future and relevance. While the exponents of the latter hold that a majority of the winning candidates in the by-elections hail from influential families, which have been active in politics since decades and thus, are as relevant now as they were before.

The electables had been playing a vital role in determining election results and party standings, and ‘making and breaking’ of governments both at the provincial and national level. Prof Ilhan Niaz, chairman of History Department at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, affirms that they have been a valuable asset for the non-political and non-democratic forces that have been driving them to make, break or change regimes. Apart from this, political parties have also been relying on these electables to increase their number of seats in the assemblies. Despite all his efforts, popular narratives and support from powerful actors, Khan had to turn to electables in the 2018 general elections to make sure that the PTI secured the required number of seats.

This prompts the question: What makes electables valuable for political parties and non-political forces? There can possibly be multiple reasons. To begin with, many electables are a product of feudalism. They will remain relevant if it continues to rule the country in any shape, asserts Saqlain Imam, a London-based BBC journalist. Secondly, electables also emerge for good reasons i.e., by serving the people in their constituencies; by providing service delivery, community standing, prestige and patronage to their potential voters and supporters. Thus, they have the ability to remain a formidable constituency candidate. Thirdly, the parliamentary political system under the 1973 constitution, which is based on constituency-based electoral contests, reinforces lineage, clan, tribe, biradari (communal groups based on primordial relations) and factional politics. This, in turn, produces and strengthens electables. That is why political parties are convinced that without them, they have no hope of attaining political power. So, pocketing as many electables as possible seems to be an obligation of our mainstream political parties – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have been practicing this for decades.

Coupled with this, and their ability and ‘flexibility’ to cross floors, engage in horse trading, and shift loyalties, electables become a valuable asset for dictatorial regimes and non-political and non-democratic forces, who drive them to making, breaking, or changing regimes. For example, 25 PTI members of provincial assembly in the Punjab voted for Hamza Shahbaz against party directives during the chief minister of Punjab elections in April this year.

The electables had been playing a vital role in determining election results and party standings, and ‘making and breaking’ of governments both at the provincial and national level.

Some political pundits say that the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s (SCP) decision to invalidate votes cast against party discipline has diminished the value of electables for non-political and non-democratic forces and made allegiance-switching difficult. After the SCP verdict the dissident members’ votes no longer counts. As a result, they say, the non-political and non-democratic forces have lost their valuable ‘assets’. Moreover, hostile demographics and growing popular rejection of dynastic politics at the national level is also denting their relevance. Lastly, Khan’s popular narratives and mobilisation of young voters (high turnout in by-elections in the Punjab) is a serious challenge to their future and relevance to politics in the country. Thus, they are left with no other option but to bandwagon with a leader like Khan, and stay loyal to the leader and the party.

On the other hand, others proclaim, mainly on the basis of allocation of party tickets and results of by-elections in the Punjab, and due to the country’s political and electoral system, and the history of elections and politics of electables, that they will remain highly relevant, at least for the next two or three decades. They hold that despite his popular narratives and mobilisation of the youth, Khan-led PTI awarded a majority of tickets to electables in the by-elections e.g., Ali Afzal Sahi, Irfan Ullah Khan Niazi, Mehar Muhammad Nawaz, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi. The PML-N too allocated tickets to similar electables.

While commenting on the relevance of electables or lack of it, Dr Ejaz Hussain, associate professor of political science at the Iqra University, Islamabad, argues that they are still relevant in rural constituencies. However, in semi-urban areas, the party rather than the personality is gaining importance. In urban areas, the party matters more than the candidate. Thus, the relevance of electables is on the decline, though very slowly.

Haroon Janjua, an Islamabad-based journalist, holds that in various constituencies during the Punjab by-elections, people hailing from same clans or families contested elections against each other on different party tickets e.g., Mehar Muhammad Nawaz Bharwana of the PTI vs Mehar Muhammad Aslam Bharwana of the PML-N in PP-127 Jhang and Abdul Qadir Khosa of PML-N and Saif-ud-Din Khosa of the PTI in PP-288 Dera Ghazi Khan.

The SCP verdict, Khan’s popular narratives and youth mobilisation are thus seen as developments that have highlighted serious challenges to the future and relevance of electables. They are thus seen as less of an asset for non-political and non-democratic forces since their votes against party directives cannot immediately bring a government down. However, electables will remain relevant to the politics at least for the next few decades due to the following reasons: first, the demographics and the political system favour them; second, they will remain formidable constituency candidates having made a reputation for providing service delivery, community standing, prestige, and patronage to their constituents; third, political parties need electables because without them they have little hope of attaining or maintaining political power; and fourth, contesting an election due to the huge expense involved is beyond the reach of the poor or the middle class — it has become an altogether elite activity.

The writer has a PhD in history from Shanghai University and is   a lecturer at GCU,  Faisalabad. He can be  contacted at   mazharabbasgondal87@gmail.com.  He tweets at  @MazharGondal87