Imran Khan's election victory in Punjab province not a big shift: Former Pak envoy

New Delhi [India], July 20 (ANI): Former Pakistan envoy to the US, Husain Haqqani on Wednesday downplayed the importance of the recent bypoll win of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is being described as a "game-changer" for the country's politics.
PTI won 15 out of 20 provincial seats that were up for grabs in Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab. Its main rival in the province, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's PML-N, managed to win just four seats.
Most of the PTI turncoats who voted for PML-N's Hamza Shehbaz Sharif for chief minister lost the polls. Former Pakistan Prime Minister claimed that PTI won the by-polls despite the use of state machinery in PML-N's favour. The PTI chief also insisted that free and fair elections were the only solution to Pakistan's woes.
Haqqani, who is now Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute in the US, said that PTI's bypoll win should not be seen as a big shift and this victory does not reflect how people might vote in a general election.
"Conventional wisdom is that the recent by-poll win reflects a major win for Imran Khan's PTI. But the 20 seats that were contested were all previously held by PTI so the party winning them should not be seen as a big shift. Compared to 2018 General elections, PTI got 400,000 votes more on these seats while PML-N also increased its vote total by 300,000. A low turnout by-election does not reflect how people might vote in a general election," the former envoy told ANI.
On the possible impact of the win in the upcoming federal election, the former Pakistani diplomat said things can change by the time of the next general election. He said Pakistan's "establishment" has upset major political party's supporters and that might impact its actions between now and the next election.
"Right now, Imran Khan is in the news and his followers are emotionally charged. Things can change by the time of the next general election. One thing is certain. Pakistan's establishment has upset supporters of almost every major political party and that, more than anything else, might impact its actions between now and the next election," he said.
Answering how the Pakistani establishment views the win secured by Imran Khan, Haqqani contended that if Imran Khan is fighting the establishment, that should mean that the state apparatus should be working against him.
"But his party's relative success in by-elections suggests the state apparatus allowed votes to be cast and counted fairly. Imran Khan and his supporters have neither been jailed nor obstructed in any other way so far," he said.
Haqqani said Imran Khan's complaint against the establishment is not that it is not neutral, its rather "that the establishment is not giving him the political support it gave him in the past." (ANI)