NA 151 — The Last Debacle

[yazdi]

Re: NA 151 — The Last Debacle

@hanibal

The thing is, PML-Q vote was again Anti-PPP vote back in 2008, when Q-League was labelled as Qatil League… together both Q and N managed to bag some 62K votes, yes i agree to the point that N didn’t have appropriate time and strategy to contest those elections but even then result more or less would have been the same…

You need to understand the fact that, it is going to three way elections, PPP vs PML-N vs PTI, and anti PPP vote is going to be divided between PTI and PML-N, there are some voters of PPP who might not vote at all ( like in 1997) and/or there are some who might vote for PTI or PML-N but end of the day, if PPP play it right, they can win by small margins, that means, another five year of PPP!!!

I have been saying this from sometime now, PPP have great chance to form another coalition govt in center if PML-N and PTI didn’t gave up their egos and contest elections otherwise, this is going to help PPP big time and the dark ages will continue…

I can understand some posters who have not been to Punjab in last several years making this kind of analysis.. but I am really surprised at your comments. Please consider following points before you give your expert opinion:

1. This was no ordinary constituency. Out of 120 billion spent by ex PM Gillani in Multan district.. 20 billion were spent directly in this constituency. More than 4,000 people were sent on government expenditure on Umra-foreign trips from this constituency in last 4 years. Thousands of government jobs were given in this constituency. If after all this attention in this single constituency the gap has narrowed from 32,000 to 4,000, you can well imagine the situation of PPP in the rest of Punjab.

2. You know very well that bye-elctions are always won by ruling party. Even PMLQ won all the bye-elections prior to 2008 general elections. People know very well that they can not change the government in bye-election.. but when they will vote in the next election they will certainly consider if they want to have the same government for next 4 years.

3. In 90% of constituencies in Punjab.. PMLQ-PPP don’t exist as a party today. This is the ground reality… Next election in these constituencies is being fought directly between PTI and PMLN. I travel frequently on a semi rural road in Punjab which has 4 NA seats. During half an hour travel I see more than 100 each election offices for these two parties with thousands of banners and flags while there is not a single PPP or PMLQ election office or a banner. If you meet people who have already become active in electoral process.. there is a complete consensus that in most of the Punjab constituencies PPP doesn’t exist today as a party.

4. PPP tried to make Sariaki province an issue for next election to exploit the sentiments of Southern Punjab voters. The results of this constituency clearly shows that people consider corruption-mis governance-load shedding-inflation-economic down turn as major issues compared to Saraiki province.

This bye-election should be an eye opener for PPP who are expected to become nearly extinct in the province of Punjab.. not because the opposition has some great program for revival of the economy.. but because of their own pathetic performance. I just feel like laughing at the expert opinion of some the the non-punjab resident posters who are labeling this as a great victory for PPP..

NA-151 by-election: Qureshi denies PTI lent support to Bosan – The Express Tribune

In light of speculation that the NA-151 by-election between Shaukat Bosan and Abdul Qadir Gilani became such a closely contested fight only due to Bosan receiving a the combined endorsement from the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaaf (PTI), the PTI has refuted that Bosan receiving any support from either.
Abdul Qadir, son of former PM Gilani won the seat vacated by his father by securing 64,628 votes. Shaukat Bosan, brother of former federal minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan (who has lately joined the PTI) secured 60,532 votes but his achievement was noted as a result of support from major opposition parties including the PML-N, PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
“The PML-N did not support Bosan,” said former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi while talking to The Express Tribune. “Bosan had neither the ticket nor the support of PTI but managed to give a tough time to the ruling PPP. The independent candidate had our sympathies but neither we nor our leadership participated in his election campaign.”
In addition, Qureshi revealed that the PML-N Multan chapter split with its president Muhammad Bilal Butt who supported Bosan, whereas a local leader of the party Malik Ashiq Ali Shira supported the Gilani camp. “The PML-N candidate withdrew his nomination papers, however the reason PML-N did not participate in the by-elections was its fear of ending up in third-place,” he added.
Responding to a question about the support of JI to Bosan, Qureshi said that religious parties have never contested elections from the NA-151 constituency.
On the other hand, Qureshi expressed his surprise over the ‘jubilation’ of the ruling camp. In his opinion, for the election to be so closely contested despite being the constituency of the former prime minister should be an ‘eye-opener’ for the PPP and Yousaf Raza Gilani in particular. This is the constituency where billions of rupees had been spent over the last four years, thousands of jobs given, and funds from the Benazir Income Support Programme invested, he pointed out.
When asked whether there was any possibility of forging an alliance with the PML-N in the future, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said “There is no change in the PTI’s stance of not going into an alliance with any party.”