batmannow
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Was Imran Khan the biggest loser in the Pakistan elections?
www.merinews.com
THE PAKISTAN elections have come and gone. The results were a win-win situation for all. Riding on the sympathy wave, the Pakistan Peoples Party secured a majority of the votes. Majority it was, but not two thirds. Meanwhile, the other most popular leader Nawaz Shariff with his anti US and Musharraf chants, got a lot out of the elections. So much say that two leaders having different ideologies till some time back had to form an alliance together in order to be able to oust Musharrafs regime.
Musharrafs party mean while suffered a setback after losing the elections. But for the moment Musharraf is not going anywhere. The only loser to come out of the elections was the Tehrik e insaaf, the party of Imran Khan. Imran Khan had stood in support of Iftikhar Chaudhary right from the beginning. When almost two third of the judges were unceremoniously imprisoned and the provisional constitutional order given out by Musharraf, Imran Khan was the sole person who stood up against the Musharraf regime.
The party workers of Tehrik e insaaf were the ones who clashed with Musharrafs workers and the Pakistan police authorities. There were protests all over the country, as people came out in support of Iftikhar Chaudhary, the then Chief Justice. Imran Khans party was never a major party to reckon with, but it has its ideologies straight and in this election, it could well have garnered a few seats and become a political party to reckon with in the future.
At the time of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the entire nation was shaken. All the political parties tried to gain political mileage from the incident. The Pakistan Peoples party under Asif Zardari now had peoples sympathy with them for perhaps the lady who was the beacon of hope for millions of Pakistanis were now dead. All the other major parties were quick to come out against Musharraf saying that it was he who was responsible for the security of Benazir Bhutto and hence he should be held responsible for the tragic loss to Pakistan.
The elections were planned for January 8. Both the PML-N, Nawaz Shariffs party and the Tehrik E Insaaf came together and boycotted the elections.The Pakistan peoples party meanwhile thought that this was the best chance to capture the emotions of the country as they pushed the young 19-year old Biliawal Bhutto to the top of the party mainly because Zardari had too many corruption cases against him and had not really been a popular enough figure to stand for Prime Ministership. Once the elections got postponed to February, Nawaz Shariff changed his mind. Earlier he had questioned the credibility of the elections under Musharraf but now he decided that if he were not to contest the polls, the Pakistan peoples party would sweep them with the two-thirds majority.
Meanwhile, Imran khan and his party stuck to their gun and boycotted the polls. The results of the polls were there for all to see. Pakistan peoples party had come out trumps with maximum seats but yet was not good enough to build a government and had to enter in coalition with Nawaz Shariff. On the other hand, Musharraf might have lost the elections, but the President because of tremendous support from America may not really be ousted, as was decided by the two Pakistan leaders earlier.
In all this, Imran Khan stood as the biggest loser of the elections. What was a great opportunity for him and his party to become a national figure was missed. Who knows it might have been him forming a coalition with the Pakistan peoples party instead of Nawaz Shariff today.
Imran would defend himself saying that it was in the interest of the nation that he had boycotted the polls, but now that the polls are over and the two emerging parties have beaten Muharrafs Q league, it is time for Imran Khan to retrospect
A very popular figure around the world, everytime there is news on Pakistan or cricket, the Indian news channels flock to Imran Khan. Maybe he doesnt really have so much popularity in Pakistan, but so far his political career is a clean one. He was to be nominated as Prime Minister way back in 2002, but he did not accept it. His former wife on the other hand has been critical of all big names in Pakistan politics. In an interview to her, Musharraf is said to have called Iftikar Chaudhary as, the scum of the earth but had later gone on to deny it completely. In another article Jemima Khan, called Benazir Bhutto an incompetent Prime Minister who brazenly looted the treasury.
Pakistan has been through very hard times recently, but the ordeal is not over yet. It needs to be seen that once the judiciary is reinstated will all the corruption cases against Zardari come up? Or will Musharraf still regain power in Pakistan? Amongst all these big names, there could have been another one Imran Khan if he had not chosen to boycott the elections. But it was not to be.
www.merinews.com
THE PAKISTAN elections have come and gone. The results were a win-win situation for all. Riding on the sympathy wave, the Pakistan Peoples Party secured a majority of the votes. Majority it was, but not two thirds. Meanwhile, the other most popular leader Nawaz Shariff with his anti US and Musharraf chants, got a lot out of the elections. So much say that two leaders having different ideologies till some time back had to form an alliance together in order to be able to oust Musharrafs regime.
Musharrafs party mean while suffered a setback after losing the elections. But for the moment Musharraf is not going anywhere. The only loser to come out of the elections was the Tehrik e insaaf, the party of Imran Khan. Imran Khan had stood in support of Iftikhar Chaudhary right from the beginning. When almost two third of the judges were unceremoniously imprisoned and the provisional constitutional order given out by Musharraf, Imran Khan was the sole person who stood up against the Musharraf regime.
The party workers of Tehrik e insaaf were the ones who clashed with Musharrafs workers and the Pakistan police authorities. There were protests all over the country, as people came out in support of Iftikhar Chaudhary, the then Chief Justice. Imran Khans party was never a major party to reckon with, but it has its ideologies straight and in this election, it could well have garnered a few seats and become a political party to reckon with in the future.
At the time of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the entire nation was shaken. All the political parties tried to gain political mileage from the incident. The Pakistan Peoples party under Asif Zardari now had peoples sympathy with them for perhaps the lady who was the beacon of hope for millions of Pakistanis were now dead. All the other major parties were quick to come out against Musharraf saying that it was he who was responsible for the security of Benazir Bhutto and hence he should be held responsible for the tragic loss to Pakistan.
The elections were planned for January 8. Both the PML-N, Nawaz Shariffs party and the Tehrik E Insaaf came together and boycotted the elections.The Pakistan peoples party meanwhile thought that this was the best chance to capture the emotions of the country as they pushed the young 19-year old Biliawal Bhutto to the top of the party mainly because Zardari had too many corruption cases against him and had not really been a popular enough figure to stand for Prime Ministership. Once the elections got postponed to February, Nawaz Shariff changed his mind. Earlier he had questioned the credibility of the elections under Musharraf but now he decided that if he were not to contest the polls, the Pakistan peoples party would sweep them with the two-thirds majority.
Meanwhile, Imran khan and his party stuck to their gun and boycotted the polls. The results of the polls were there for all to see. Pakistan peoples party had come out trumps with maximum seats but yet was not good enough to build a government and had to enter in coalition with Nawaz Shariff. On the other hand, Musharraf might have lost the elections, but the President because of tremendous support from America may not really be ousted, as was decided by the two Pakistan leaders earlier.
In all this, Imran Khan stood as the biggest loser of the elections. What was a great opportunity for him and his party to become a national figure was missed. Who knows it might have been him forming a coalition with the Pakistan peoples party instead of Nawaz Shariff today.
Imran would defend himself saying that it was in the interest of the nation that he had boycotted the polls, but now that the polls are over and the two emerging parties have beaten Muharrafs Q league, it is time for Imran Khan to retrospect
A very popular figure around the world, everytime there is news on Pakistan or cricket, the Indian news channels flock to Imran Khan. Maybe he doesnt really have so much popularity in Pakistan, but so far his political career is a clean one. He was to be nominated as Prime Minister way back in 2002, but he did not accept it. His former wife on the other hand has been critical of all big names in Pakistan politics. In an interview to her, Musharraf is said to have called Iftikar Chaudhary as, the scum of the earth but had later gone on to deny it completely. In another article Jemima Khan, called Benazir Bhutto an incompetent Prime Minister who brazenly looted the treasury.
Pakistan has been through very hard times recently, but the ordeal is not over yet. It needs to be seen that once the judiciary is reinstated will all the corruption cases against Zardari come up? Or will Musharraf still regain power in Pakistan? Amongst all these big names, there could have been another one Imran Khan if he had not chosen to boycott the elections. But it was not to be.
