Daily Times

#GE2018 is the most widely used hashtag on Twitter for election related trends, updates, and debates.

On Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) used the hashtag to make viral the release of its official election soundtrack, in a tweet that singled out millennials as the target audience. The song is available on the party’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/PTIOfficialChannel #AbSirfImranKhan.

Nearly four minutes long, the campaign song is titled ‘Ab Sirf Imran Khan’ and has been sung by Farhan Saeed, who officially endorsed the PTI campaign through a very diplomatic Tweet made in late June on his official Twitter page. The song targets such social themes as health, economic prosperity and joblessness.

The direction of the music video is such that each change in scene is in line with a verse relating to a particular issue. Also visualised in the music video is a muted snippet of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif addressing the public. In the background, the singer refers to him as a plunderer.

While the PTI was promoting its song by taking down its opponents, other social media users highlighted the plight of citizens during the party’s recent campaign rally.

Syed Raza Mehdi (@SyedRezaMehdi) posted a video of a woman facing difficulty getting home due to road blockages caused by extensive protocol for Imran Khan’s visit to Karachi. “This is what families have faced during Khan Sb’s Karachi visit today. Khan Sb always raised his voice against VIP culture i hope someone will share this video with Khan Sb and remind him of his slogan to end “VIP Culture”. #GE2018 #Election2018,” he tweeted.

The VIP culture trend was also brought up on Twitter under the tag of #ReleaseJibranNasir earlier in the week when the candidate was assaulted by security officials in the protocal of a judge.

On the other hand, a left-wing party aspiring for seats in the assembly used an opportunity provided by researcher Haris Gazdar’s tweet about the Punjab’s Land Alienation Act to put forward its progressive agenda for the country.

After Gazdar’s tweet, the Awami Workers Party tweeted calling for the repeal of the colonial era law, pointing out its discriminatory nature responsible for a stark gap between feudal land owners and non-agrarian social groups in the country’s rural hinterland. @AwamiWorkers posted, ” AWP stands for the repeal of the Punjab Land Alienation Act & an end to the usurpation of people’s land by landowning agencies in the name of obsolete colonial occupational categories or vaguely defined ‘public interest’. Pakistan needs an overhaul of its land development regime.” Lawyer, Asad Jamal (@LegalPolitical) also joined the discussion, saying, “Yes. I think the only question is whether to challenge it in the court or work for change through legislation. I think the latter is more desirable even if it takes longer; while the former seems to be fraught with risks…”

Far-right Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan’s has also been using social media for its campaign. Under the hashtag #BalochistanNeedsTLP, the party’s leader Khadim Hussain Rizvi has lately posted tweets about the need for Islamic laws.

Published in Daily Times, July 6^th 2018.