Daily Times

Sir: In the 2018 elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf came to power and bagged the majority of seats in the centre, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and is also expected to form a government in Punjab. This was the first time in many years that many prominent personalities lost in the elections, such as Mehmood Khan Acakzai, Fazal-Ur-Rehman, Asfandayar Wali Khan, and Aftab Ahmad Sherpawo. They have rejected the election due to allegations of massive rigging and the removal of polling agents during the counting of the votes. They are blaming the Election Commission of Pakistan for not ensuring free and fair elections. In the history of our country, opposition parties have never accepted their defeat and always blame either the Election Commission or the establishment for their failures. In 2013, Imran Khan did not accept his defeat and staged a 120 days sit-in at the D-Chowk in Islamabad and continuously blamed the government of rigging the polls.

Secondly, it is a mature and strong opposition that makes democracy sustainable. It is the duty of the opposition to criticize the government’s polices but in our country opposition parties have never played a positive role, and only criticize every move made by the party in power. This time, major political parties such as PMLN, PPP and MMA made an alliance to give a tough time to Imran Khan in the National Assembly. Khan will face a strong and effective opposition, and only time will prove how effective the opposition parties are eventually.

Lastly, opposition parties should make sure to not repeat their previous mistakes, and work co-jointly for the betterment and prosperity of this country.

RAZA ULLAH KHAN

Dist Lakki Marwat

Published in Daily Times, August 15^th 2018.