NA-122 is an area where the PML-N has habitually scored victories. The party’s current candidate, Ayaz Sadiq, won the seat hands down in 2002. Imran Khan, with whom Sadiq indulged in national sport hockey in Aitchison College, won half as many votes in that electoral contest. The PTI claims that by 2013 the tables had turned and Sadiq owed his declared victory to large-scale rigging. Though the same result is predicted this time around, the PTI’s campaign is short of neither verve nor resources. The crucial by-election in NA 122 has assumed a symbolic importance for both the PML-N and PTI. The PML-N believes Imran Khan’s demands would multiply in case the PTI wins the seat and he could then start a campaign for government change. The loss of the seat a second time would, on the other hand, weaken his claims about rigging. This explains why both sides have invested maximum manpower and monetary resources into the constituency turning it into the most costly of all by-elections. As the polling day approaches the tensions in the rank and file of the two parties continue to rise. The intemperate language introduced by Imran Khan seems to have become the lingua franca of the mainstream political discourse. The PTI chief accused Nawaz Sharif of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption. He claimed that 70 percent extra in the power bills was straightaway embezzled by the PML-N government. The charges have elicited an extraordinarily sharp rebuttal from the PML-N, reminding one of the irresponsible confrontation of the 1990s that ended in the induction of Musharraf’s military rule. Pervez Rashid called Imran Khan a liar and a traitor who attacked institutions and tried to overthrow an elected government with funds supplied by the Indian and Jewish lobbies abroad. The altercation brings credit neither to the PTI nor PML-N. One had hoped that politicians had matured and terms like “traitor” would be no more in use. It appears, however, that politicians are hell-bent on pushing the system to the precipice unmindful of its consequences to the country.The best way for the PTI to disprove the donations related charges is to disclose the source and details of the foreign funds to the ECP which is the right forum to deal with issues related to elections. A continuing reluctance on the part of the party to follow the legal procedure would give birth to questions and surmises.
pk.shafaqna.com
