THE Supreme Court’s decision stripping PTI of its electoral symbol casts another shadow on an already compromised pre-election phase. It undermines the rights of voters to vote for their preferred party by making the task of candidate identification considerably more difficult. By all accounts, it is a regressive decision which deepens Pakistan’s ongoing derailment of democracy.

Even prior to the decision, no impartial observer would have considered the pre-election phase as fair or ‘level’. The crackdown on workers and candidates already prevents a serious election campaign from being mounted by one party. However, prior to the Supreme Court decision, there was a distinct possibility that the anonymity of the ballot box, along with clear candidacies in all constituencies, would allow for a proper electoral contest. That prospect, arguably, now stands irrevocably diminished.

Recent polling by Gallup Pakistan shows that PML-N has closed both the voting intention gap and the leadership favourability gap in the all-important province of Punjab. PTI now carries just a two-point lead over the PML-N, narrowing down by 19 points since March 2023. The breakdown shows a near-even split in party preference across central, south, and west Punjab, with PTI commanding a large intention lead in north Punjab, which has 15 of the province’s 141 seats.

Translating sample-based voting intention surveys that cover large regions into constituency-based outcomes is a tricky task. Support bases for parties can be spread out unevenly. Small opinion poll differences........

© Dawn