Lahore/Islamabad: Imran Khan on Sunday welcomed the high turnout in the country’s elections as a step forward for democracy, but said his party would submit a report on alleged vote-rigging.
His first public remarks, made in a televised statement, came 17 hours after his main rival, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, declared victory. Khan had vowed that the polls would sweep his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into power.
“I congratulate the entire nation for taking part in such a massive democratic process. We are moving forward on the path of democracy,” the former cricket star said, speaking from the hospital bed where he is laid up with a fractured spine.
“Even those people who never voted in their life came out and the entire nation is happy to see it. Now there is awareness among the people of Pakistan that their fate is in their hands,” he said.
In reference to allegations of vote-rigging made by members of his party, Khan said: “God willing, we will issue a white paper”.
But while PTI’s showing was far short of the victory for which he campaigned, he spoke of satisfaction about the participation of young people and women. Female turnout is traditionally low in conservative regions.
“There is usually victory and defeat, but all the pain of this defeat evaporated after I saw enthusiasm in youth,” he said.
“I also thank our women. Never in the history of Pakistan have women come out and voted in such a big number. It is heartening to see that they have also contributed to efforts to make a new Pakistan,” said Khan.
Power in northwest
In perhaps the most dramatic outcome of the elections, Khan’s party has won power in the northwest, putting to the ultimate test the former cricket star’s anti-US rhetoric and calls for peace talks with the Taliban.
After years of war, displacement and broken promises from religious parties and the secular Awami National Party (ANP), voters on the frontline of the Taliban insurgency rewarded Khan’s untested party with the highest number of seats.
For PTI, which previously only held one seat, it was a staggering victory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) — one of the most troubled parts of the country — and hands Khan an almost poisoned chalice of responsibility.
Many analysts believe Khan will have a rude awakening and will realise very quickly that his policies of appeasement are naive, that it is not just “America’s war” and that the Taliban are not people he can do business with.
“They will wake up to reality very quickly because the stance of the Taliban is such that it is absolutely not reconcilable with any government in KPK or in the federal capital,” said Saifullah Khan Mahsud of the Fata Research Centre.
The ANP, which governed KPK for the last five years, was all but wiped out at the polls, sent packing by an electorate fed up with corruption and their inability to bring peace to the war-racked province.
