How dual offices, poor election campaign stripped PTI of NA-1?

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) surrendered the keenly-watched NA-1 seat before the polling day primarily due to the chaos in the party.

The PTI didn’t appear making efforts to win election against Awami National Party (ANP) heavyweight Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, who had been all-time favourite on the seat until he was humbled by the PTI chairman Imran Khan.

One reason that the party failed to run an effective election campaign was its leaders’ dual offices. Almost all the PTI leaders hold offices both in the party and the government. Hardly any leader had remained in the party who could spearhead the election campaign as all enjoy key positions in the government that legally disallows them to participate in election campaign.

PTI Secretary General Pervez Khattak is the chief minister of the province. The provincial president of the party, Asad Qaiser, holds the office of the speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The provincial general secretary, Shaukat Yousafzai, and president of Peshawar region are both cabinet members.

The legal predicament caused by dual offices badly affected the campaign for Gul Badshah as these leaders were unable to give it an impetus and there were no other office-bearers who could take on the responsibility. “Had the party office-bearers not been part of the government, the situation would have been different,” said a PTI leader, Zahid Hussain. “A seat won with such a huge margin would not have been lost in this manner,” he added.

After the May 11 general election, the party debated the dual offices of the chief minister, speaker and ministers and suggested them to quit one office, preferably the party office. However, Pervez Khattak and others showed unwillingness to leave party positions to other leaders and Imran Khan appeared reluctant to force them. That has dented the party’s support in the by-election and might cause problems for the PTI in future.

Ishtiaq Urmar, the PTI information secretary, didn’t receive calls from this correspondent to explain the party’s stance on its weak election campaign and dual offices. He also didn’t respond to a text message. Yaseen Khalil, the PTI district Peshawar president and adviser to chief minister was “in a meeting.” MPA Arif Yousaf also avoided calls.

Except Imran Khan, who delivered a curt address at a rally in Peshawar on August 18, no other leader was able to hold public meeting to drum up support for the weak candidate, thanks to dual offices. If there was any interest of Pervez Khattak and Asad Qaiser, it was in their native districts where their close relatives were contesting election. And the party won those two National Assembly seats.

An effective election drive would have compensated for the wrong decision to award ticket to a controversial and unknown person. The award of ticket pushed the party into irreversible chaos. “The estranged real workers who were so dejected by the party decision that they didn’t come out of homes,” Zahid Hussain said. He urged Imran Khan to give respect to the ideological workers and engage them in party affairs.

The provincial leaders allowed divisions within the party to develop over the nomination instead of rectifying the decision. And worse, these leaders further estranged the competitors for ticket by heaping scorn on them instead of winning them over. The PTI provincial leaders ignored the dissidents, many of whom were old party leaders.

Once the unchangeable decision of awarding ticket to Gul Badshah was made, his election campaign was the next important stage. But the party leadership appeared to have surrendered in advance. The PTI failed to run an effective campaign for the by-election the way it did in the May 11 general election.

The party appeared complacent, probably because of the record votes Imran Khan had bagged in this constituency on May 11. The PTI created a wave in the general election through an aggressive campaign as election vans drove in streets playing party songs, ‘tabdeeli razakar’ intruded people at homes, in shops, streets and all other places to persuade them to vote for Imran Khan.

Spirited young workers took out boisterous processions to catch people’s attention and to create an environment of victory before election. Youngsters, irrespective of party affiliations, were impressed so much that they exhibited unswerving passion that pushed them to start unsolicited and unplanned electioneering.But all this was missing in the PTI’s election for by-polls. It was surprising to see that the PTI had no camp offices outside many polling stations in the by-election.