Major political parties have made attractive promises in their election manifestos and during their campaigns to entice 128.5 million voters to vote for them in the general elections on February 8, in which 25,951 candidates are running for the National and four Provincial Assemblies. The results will establish whether the promises and narratives worked for the candidates and the parties.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has suffered several recent setbacks, the biggest being the convictions of its founder Imran Khan and vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the Cipher and Tausha Khana Cases. The two verdicts against Khan and Qureshi in the Cipher Case and Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi came just 10 days before the general elections. Another problem the PTI is facing is the crumbling of the party cadres into several groups. The withdrawal of its election symbol has also left it with considerable disadvantage as its candidates are now contesting the elections as independents with various symbols. The PTI leaders also complain that many of their candidates and supporters are being harassed and their campaign material is removed from the streets every day.
Despite all this, PTI’s silent supporters can make a difference on the polling day. In fact, some of the PTI lawyers believe that the two verdicts against Khan might swell the sympathy vote.
Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddiq says, “The verdicts against Imran Khan in the Cipher and Tausha Khana cases will prove counter-productive for those conspiring to keep the PTI out of power.” He says that some of the people who had been........