–Election results show major upsets as so-called pro-army politicians Ch Nisar, Mustafa Kamal defeated

ISLAMABAD: In the backdrop of rigging allegations by the opposition parties with fingers being pointed in all directions, including the security forces, the results of elections 2018 suggest that major politicians who were supposed to be the ‘pawns’ of the establishment have suffered a defeat while the so-called army critics have secured victories.

The results, which are still pouring in due to the delay, surprisingly suggest that two major politicians linked to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, have won elections from NA-50 South Waziristan and NA-48 North Waziristan, respectively.

Meanwhile, two of the biggest critics of the army within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), former defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Rana Sanaullah, have also won elections from NA-73 Sialkot and NA-106 Faisalabad, respectively.

On the other hand, elections 2018 have proved to be a nightmare for most of the politicians who have a leaning towards the military establishment. Almost all candidates of Pak-Sarzameen Party (PSP), being viewed as a pawn of the establishment to dislodge Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) from urban Sindh, have lost elections.

Chairman of PSP Mustafa Kamal also lost the elections from both his National Assembly seats in Karachi. PSP leader Raza Haroon experienced the same fate.

Former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a political bigwig with pro-military views, suffered defeat at the hands of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stalwart Ghulam Sarwar Khan from both NA-59 and NA-63 Rawalpindi.

Also, chief of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and former petroleum minister Jam Kamal Khan faced defeat in NA-272, though BAP was being called another pawn of the military establishment.

Mir Sarfraz Bugti, another BAP leader who actually launched a rebellion against former chief minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, has also been defeated from BP-10 Dera Bugti at the hands of Gohram Bugti.

Another pro-establishment politician Lt General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch lost in NA-268 Chaghai.

Pro-army politician Amir Muqam lost to PTI’s little-known politicians from two National Assembly constituencies – NA-2 Swat and NA-29 Peshawar. Ijazul Haq, another so-called pro-establishment politician, suffered defeat in Bahawalnagar.