In light of partial results of the nationwide Cantonment board elections, Minister from Planning and Development Asad Umar has claimed rather prematurely and inaccurately that the PTI has emerged as ‘the largest and only national party’ in the country, when in fact it has failed to defeat the PML-N in Punjab where the latter leads by at least 22 seats. In KP, the PTI has expectedly dominated with a comfortable margin over all other parties and independent candidates. That the PTI has managed not only to match the PPP’s 14 seats, all of them in Karachi, making it the largest party in the province’s capital, is commendable. On the other hand, the PML-N’s success in Punjab is another indicator of PTI’s inability to perform in the province over the past three years. Unless there is significant improvement in PTI’s performance over the next two years, it will have a tough time at the hustings convincing people to vote them back into power in Punjab.

Source: Pakistan Today September 13, 2021 16:18 UTC