By-elections on 20 seats of the Punjab Assembly on July 17, in which the ousted ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), won a landslide victory, were unprecedented in the history of Pakistan and would greatly determine the future of politics and democracy in the country. The unmatched significance of the election was that the PTI, led by ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan, won it against all odds.

The win of Imran Khan and the PTI was historic because it was achieved despite opposition from all other 13 major political parties ruling as a coalition, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Centre and his son Hamza Shahbaz as Chief Minister in Punjab, and with an unfavorable tilt of the country’s establishment and blatant use of civilian administration and resources to intimidate the PTI candidates, voters and supporters in every conceivable way. The victory was achieved by the total support of the electorate, who came out in a huge number to vote for the PTI. It means that if a party or a leader convinces people and the electorate that his party’s struggle is for the country and its citizens and in no way self-centered and that he has been discriminated against and facing state atrocities just for raising voice for the people and to protect the core interest of the country, then people are ready to vote for the leader and the party. This is what Imran Khan with the stupendous success did before the Punjab by-elections. He took a whirlwind tour within a week of almost all 20 constituencies where the elections were being held and informed the people why he had been ousted from power as Prime Minister of Pakistan and why his party’s government in Punjab had been dislodged.

However, there was an entire context to the unprecedented support which Imran Khan’s party received from the people of Punjab in the by-elections. The polls were extremely important for the overall political future of the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country as a whole. Punjab is the largest of the four provinces of Pakistan and the political bastion of the largest party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of former PM Imran Khan, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif and his brother and current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The Supreme Court of Pakistan had declared the election of Hamza Shehbaz, as Chief Minister of Punjab, illegal and ordered re-elections on July 22. When PM Imran Khan was thrown out of power through a no-confidence vote by 13 (currently ruling) parties in the National Assembly on April 11, the same parties also brought a no-confidence vote against PTI’s Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. However, sensing his defeat he resigned. Hamza Shehbaz was elected Chief Minister after 25 MPAs (Members Provincial Assembly) of the PTI changed their loyalties and voted for him. He was elected outside the Punjab Legislative Assembly building because the agitating PTI MPs did not let him get elected because the turncoats were about to vote for him. The PTI took the issue to the Lahore High Court to decide the constitutionality and legality of the process of election of Chief Minister. In the meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified the 25 PTI MPAs from Punjab and also declared their vote for CM Hamza Shehbaz void and called for holding re-elections on the vacant seats. Out of the 25, 20 had been directly elected MPAs while five were elected on reserve seats for women and non-Muslims. After the Supreme Court’s decision, Hamza Shehbaz lost the required majority of 186 members in the House of 371.

The PML-N along with coalition partner Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had 170 members while the PTI and its ally Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) (the official opposition) had 172 seats. Against this backdrop, the July 17 election was of immense importance. The ruling alliance had to win most of the seats. The PTI, which is riding the popularity wave as surveys show, by stirring anti-American sentiments and taking a very strong anti-establishment line, had to win 14 seats. Moreover, the PTI took a completely antipodal stance from all currently ruling political parties, including the PML-N, PPP, MQM, ANP and JUI-F, which have been ruling the country in the last 48 years and most of their leaders were accused of huge financial corruption and abuse of power with many of them convicted by courts. Nevertheless, most of the parties and their leaders remained in politics and have been winning elections with the support of the country’s establishment while a majority of people do not participate in national and provincial elections considering it a futile exercise. The PTI victory in the by-elections was only possible because people in relatively a larger number came out to vote. Obviously, the higher turnout went in favour of the PTI and Imran Khan because it included mostly young and newly registered voters and the PTI is known for being the party of youths. Otherwise, the PML-N was able to get its share of votes.

According to post-poll figures, out of the polled votes the PTI got 46 percent while the PML-N around 39 percent. There has been a huge increase in the PTI’s tally of votes in the constituencies than what it got in the 2018 national elections. This development that relatively a larger number of voters came out and voted is really wholesome for democracy and politics in the country, particularly for parties and leaders whose politics is based on issues which are directly related to the people.

Although a leader and his party may convince the voters and people of the genuineness of their struggle for the people instead of vested interest, but within the extant parliamentary political system despite one’s sincerity a leader and party cannot deliver as they become hostage to their and coalition partners’ members of parliament, who could go any way through some perks and privileges, as we have been witnessing throughout and particularly since March this year with many MPs turning coats just for money. Moreover, it is important to note that still 50 percent of the electorate did not come out to vote. This is a big “no” from their side to the parliamentary political system of the country. Nevertheless, for the time-being, the by-election dynamics would have wholesome effects on democracy in Pakistan.