Electorates in Pakistan have made a forceful point. The people have voted for manifesto and candidates whom they believed were worth representing them.
 For the first time in history, vote hasn’t been cast on sympathy basis. People, despite their limitations and personal political affiliations, seem to have made a thorough choice. The Pakistan Peoples Party of President Asif Ali Zardari, which didn’t campaign at all under its own assumptions, stands routed — and its national image badly hurt. Now it is merely limited to its hometown, the province of Sindh, and on the national canvas trialing even behind the debut-performer, Tehrik-e-Insaf of cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan. The Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif is the lead vote grabber and has emerged as the single largest party in the May 11 elections that witnessed an unprecedented turnout of around 65 per cent. If early unofficial results are any criterion, Nawaz Sharif who has won hands down from all of his constituencies is poised to become the next prime minister. His third stint as the country’s chief executive will, however, come with unique challenges and, of course, a mandate to usher in direly needed reforms.
Imran Khan whose party has done well in all of the four provinces and emerged as the second largest bloc in the National Assembly should gear itself for playing the role of opposition. The PTI by virtue of its manifesto and strong dislike for both Sharif and Zardari is unlikely to become part of any coalition government. The fact that Imran’s party is all set to form the provincial government in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa is no less than a treat for the youth, who had campaigned for change. It is here that the real test will come for the party and its leadership — who had made a corner stone of their policy to open vistas of negotiations with the Taleban and prevail over the United States to stop drone attacks inside Pakistan territory.
The 2013 election will always be remembered because the people shunted out the mighty and powerful figureheads of Peoples’ Party, including former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf, former ministers Ahmed Mukhtar, Qamar Zaman Khaira and Awami National Party’s bigwig Asfandyar Wali, and the like. The trend suggests that all those parties that were allies with Zardari’s dispensation had been shown the door, and the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement irrespective of its consolidated vote bank had to suffer to make a mark.
With the electorate having spoken Pakistan is heading towards a government that would be unstable in nature and closely knitted with allies who will keep on dangling their bargaining chips. To what extent can the nation expect solution to problems such as terrorism, economic decline and social parochialism is anybody’s guess! But corruption-free good governance and that too without much political polarisation will be the cherished dream of 180 million Pakistanis — who have seen national exchequer robbed and law of the land thrown to wind at the hands of outgoing legislatures. Pakistan’s rejuvenated democracy is in a litmus test of its own.