Despite the repression of the army, many leaders have not lost their loyalty to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Despite threats and attempts to leave the party, they remained steadfast. Stands as an independent candidate. He is also wearing a victory garland. The opposite picture was seen in the case of leaders who betrayed Imran. Leaders who left PTI and allied with other parties have suffered.
In Thursday’s election in Pakistan, Imran’s allies won despite defeating politically dominant candidates.
After Imran’s arrest, attempts were made to wipe out PTI from the political arena. Many people left the party at that unfavorable time. Pervez Khattak is one of the prominent politicians who deserted Imran during difficult times. He is the former Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During the election campaign, Khattak loudly claimed that he will be the Chief Minister again. And independent candidates supported by PTI will also join hands with him after victory. But he was overwhelmed.
On the other hand, businessman and politician Jahangir Tareen was once very close to Imran. Left PTI and formed Istehqam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). However, his party was also badly defeated in the February 8 elections.
After the defeat, the question arises, why did the voters not vote for heavyweight political candidates like Khattak and Tareen? In this regard, Pakistani journalist Laik Ali Khan said that the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rejected those groups that criticized Imran. On the other hand, Khattak’s party suffered a humiliating defeat.
According to another journalist, it has become clear in this election that people have independently assessed the situation. The results prove that these candidates won the 2013 and 2018 elections because of Imran’s popularity and not because of personal image.
Apart from that there was public anger towards these politicians at the grass root level for betraying Imran. Voters expressed their anger through voting.
Meanwhile, the United States expressed concern about Pakistan’s elections. In addition, several US lawmakers have called on US President Joe Biden not to recognize the announced results. They advised not to accept the results without a full investigation into vote rigging and interference. Not only that, the legislators also criticized the long process in publishing the results.
According to the US State Department, Pakistan’s electoral process has been interfered with – we are concerned about this. US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Friday that the US has used international and local credible observers to monitor the election. Elections in Pakistan have seen restrictions on freedom of expression and undue restrictions and interference with peaceful assembly.
