Qadri in 2002, faces new challenge now
(Najamuddin Ghanghro, Karachi(original from Larkana))
Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz
Ashraf is up against the same rival, Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, whom he had defeated
humiliatingly in the 2002 general elections when the latter was backed by the
establishment.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is extremely anxious about the plans of Dr Qadri and
approached the national leadership on Friday to counter the upcoming challenge.
The last time Dr Qadri came face to face with Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was in the
2002 general elections on NA-51, Gujar Khan, where Ashraf had bagged an
overwhelming 81,761 votes against Dr Qadri who was being openly supported by the
Pervez Musharraf government.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is facing the second big challenge of his 8-month tenure
after he had a narrow escape in the Swiss letter controversy. This second
challenge is in the form of Jan. 14 long march announced by Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri.
A perusal of election records of 1990 and 2002 shows that Pakistan Awami Tehreek
(PAT) was rejected by the masses despite overwhelming support of army in 2002
elections.
Besides Dr Qadri, most of PAT candidates failed to secure even 1,000 votes. In
1990 elections, Dr Qadri failed to win a single seat despite the fact that he
had managed to hold very big public rallies. Many believe as he had failed to
come forward in the present electoral system, he wants to bring down the whole
system to carve some role for himself and his followers. However, Dr Qadri
insists he is not against the electoral system and simply wants reforms.
In the 2002 elections, Dr Qadri contested from three seats, NA-51 (Gujar Khan),
NA-89 (Jhang) and NA-127 (Lahore) and lost from first two seats while winning
from Lahore.
Analysts allege his victory from Lahore was because of backdoor support of the
establishment. However, the election results of NA-127 are self-explanatory. As
a winner, Dr Qadri secured 24,949 votes. Registered votes in NA-127 were 237,065
and only 79,868 were cast. Abdul Aleem Khan of PML-Q secured 20,545, Naseer
Ahmad Bhutta of PML-N 18,271 and Mian Ijaz-ul-Hasan of PPPP 12,203 votes.