I spoke to someone back in Pakistan today, and they told me that they voted PTI out of protest – not because they supported it, not because they admired Handsome, but simply out of a sense of fairness and because they wanted to say ‘no’ to those behind the scenes. A thought process that many, many people followed today.
There is something painfully touching about this: a country whose people have seen, time and again, their voice ignored or simply overruled, still coming out to say no, this is not what we want. You will take it anyway, but this is not what we want.
I have nothing but loathing for the PTI, and I have never voted in a Pakistani election but to spoil my ballot, but in this election I might have voted for them.
And so the independents – mostly those who would have belonged to the PTI had it been allowed to stand – have the greatest number of seats. They will not take power, unless there is a deal cut, which there might well be, but something has been quietly said.