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'Imran's long march lacks any political justification'
Parvez Jabri
08 Aug, 2014
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![](https://i.brecorder.com/images/2014/08/imran-khan-pti.jpg">ISLAMABAD: A cross-section of society has expressed dismay over the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's call for long march on August 14, saying that Imran Khan's demand for new election lacks any justification and risks pushing the country towards political instability.</P><P>People are raising questions as why such march is required at a time when the country is heading towards the path of progress with launch of several development projects.</P><P>A large number of people believe that PTI's defeat in last elections owes to numerous reasons including poor selection of candidates, lack of planning, weak agenda and objectives.</P><P>Also the PTI's internal inquiry report attributes party's defeat in the election.</P><P>The other reason of the party's defeat was false allotment of tickets, which were withdrawn in the middle of the campaign and in some cases were re-allotted, generated widespread confusion and belittled the party's management capabilities.</P><P>As many as 64 PTI candidates faced defeat in the general polls of 2013 and their security deposits were forfeited as per the rules and regulations of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).</P><P>According to the official data by ECP, Pakistan Muslim League (N) in May 2013 elections sponsored a total of 1,458 candidates for national and provincial seats and of them, a total of 364 won.</P><P>PTI fielded 783 nominees and only 86 of them were successful.</P><P>The PML-N bagged 126 general seats. Nineteen (19) independent winners joined the party while 26 women and five minority members were elected on special seats. Thus, the total tally in the National Assembly came up to 176.</P><P>On contrary, the PTI won general seats; no independent winner joined it and 6 women and a minority was member elected on reserved seats, thus making a total of 35 seats.</P><P>In the Punjab Assembly, the PML-N got 248 general seats while it had 50 women and seven minority members elected on reserved seats, making total seats to 305. The PTI won just 20 direct general seats with five women and a minority member on reserved seats, making a total of 26 members.</P><P>In the Sindh Assembly, the PML-N clinched six seats, five direct seats and one special woman seat while the PTI had a total of four seats - three general seats and a seat reserved for women.</P><P>In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly, the PTI took the lead by getting 35 general seats and 10 special women seats, having a total of 45 seats, while the PML-N won 13 general seats and three women seats, having a total of 16 seats.</P><P>In Balochistan Assembly, the PML-N won 13 general seats, three non-Muslim seats and one woman reserved seat, having a total of 17 seats. The PTI scored zero.</P><P>According to analysts, protests and long marches are no doubt a constitutional right of any political party but these are not meant to disrupt peace and development and must be demonstrated in a responsible manner keeping in mind supreme national interests.</P><P>Imran Khan's demand for new elections reflects his whimsical approach to politics.</P><P>Last year, despite his reservations about the election results about some of the constituencies, he accepted the results and formed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provincial government led by his party.</P><P>His party representatives have also been participating in the deliberations of the National and Provincial Assemblies over the past one year. If rigging was as serious and extensive as Imran Khan would have us believe now, he should have rejected the election results all over the country last year.</P><P>Initially, he demanded recounting at four constituencies. Now he wants the audit of the whole electoral process and new general elections.</P><P>Some analysts have also expressed dissatisfaction over the claim of changing the )