The nation’s electoral watchdog rejected nomination papers of candidates belonging to the down-on-its-luck PTI at an industrial speed. If there were any doubts about the nature of the upcoming elections, they have been removed in as rapid a speed as the ECP’s.
The papers of all of the heavyweights of the PTI were rejected, whereas those of the members of the PDM, and also ‘software updated’ former members of the PTI, sailed right through.
That the PTI’s (former) chairman would not allowed to be run in a concerted ‘minus one’ effort was clear to all, but few expected a nigh-blanket rejection of the party’s second and third-tier leadership as well.
Some of the members of the Grand Democratic Alliance in Sindh also faced rejections, while the BNP’s chief Akhtar Mengal was also rejected.
This is pre-poll rigging. It is unacceptable, yet, accepted it will be. Because it is certainly not the first time this is happening. The PPP has faced this many times over. The PML(N) has faced it, first before the 2002 elections, and then before the 2018 elections that yielded the PTI government. And the ANP, in its various forms, has been facing this since the days of the British Raj.
But the depressing thing is that despite clearly knowing better all the political parties, across the political class, are playing ball, knowing quite well what is going to transpire in the future. The reason could be the lack of trust between them, particularly between them and the PTI, whose apparent about-turn in principles regarding civil supremacy are being viewed as merely circumstantial; that the party will revert to being the creature of unrepresentative forces that it was in 2018 and earlier.
Perhaps this level of despondency has been seen very few times in our hapless republic’s history, where principled supporters of democracy have absolutely no idea who to root for.
