ONE social media user said it was a remarkable victory; it was, after all, almost “a century scored without a bat”; it appeared an all-encompassing comment as the snail-paced trickle of the Feb 8 election results started to paint a picture of the PTI voters’ anger and defiance at all that the party and its leadership has had to face.

It has been clear since the arrest and jailing of Imran Khan that the ‘reset to 2016’ had been initiated. The party was thrown in the ring with one hand tied behind its back to face the might of its ferocious and powerful adversaries. The most comprehensive plan appeared in place.

Exactly a week ago, in these very columns, we’d also observed: The only outside chance, the slimmest if you like, of it failing will be on polling day. What if the rage of the supporters at what they see as injustice to their leader manifests itself in their voting in droves for the candidates endorsed by the party? How many votes can be tossed in the rubbish bin for one reason or another?

The voters turned out in enough numbers to have given the ‘independents’ (read: mostly PTI) almost a century of seats, despite all obstacles in the run-up to polling day; and issues in tabulation and announcement of the results. A number of results are likely to be disputed in election tribunals and courts.

For months and months, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif had been demanding a so-called reset to 2016, while placing the onus........

© Dawn