The much-promised electoral tsunami of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan which he foretold would sweep the whole of Pakistan, could only occur in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The PTI has won the highest number of seats in the 99-member KP provincial assembly and is all set to form the next government provided the majority party in the Centre, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) does not attempt to form the government along with the second largest party in the KP Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F). However, if the PML-N and the JUI-F came together, they would need the support of smaller parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) of Aftab Sherpao to form the government.
If the PML-L takes this course, the KP would get a government, but it would be extremely weak and would be subject to the dictates of the smaller parties. Hopefully, the PML-N, which is in a comfortable position in the centre and does not need any support from the JUI-F or the JI, would not go for political wheeling and dealing with the JUI-F. If it decides otherwise this would be the return of 1990s politics which inflicted irreparable damage on the country. The JUI-F head, the cunning deal-maker Maulana Fazlur Rahman, has already offered the PML-N to form the government in KP but has not received any positive response from the PML-N as yet. The JUI-F style of politics is that it always wants to remain in the corridors of power by winning a few seats and then dealing with the largest parties, which have always needed smaller parties and independent winners to form a majority. Consequently, since early 1990s, the JUI-F has been in the government whether it be of the PPP, the PML-Q or the PML-N. It is hoped that the PML-N would demonstrate political maturity and would respect the mandate of the PTI given to it by the people of KP.
There are different reasons that why the tsunami of Imran Khan came only in the KP and not the entire country. The reason for this is that the voters of KP have been displaying exceptional political maturity relatively to other parts of the country and have voted for almost all the main political parties and given them opportunity to form government in the province. For instance in 1997, the electorate of KP cast their votes in favour of the PML-N, in 2002, it gave a landslide victory to the alliance of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), in 2008 it for the first time gave the majority vote to the long-existing nationalist party, the Awami National Party (ANP), and now in the 2013, the people of KP have given the majority to the PTI. This demonstrates that the people in KP have been politically active and savvy. They changed the parties of their choice because none of them has been able to address the chronic problems of KP, including poverty, unemployment, lack of health and education facilities and, above all, deliverance from the menace of religious extremism and terrorism in the name of Islam.
The ANP got votes in 2002 from KP not in the name of Pakhtoon nationalism, the perennial slogan of the party, but the people wanted the party to use its philosophy of secularism to purge the province from extremism and terrorism. However, the ANP whose secularism has been largely conservative and narrow, could not come up with any viable programme and strategy to defeat extremism and terrorism. Consequently, despite losing hundreds of its members, including ministers and parliamentarians, the ANP could not defeat extremism. Instead, the menace accelerated. In the meanwhile, the people of the provinces suffered badly from unending terrorist attacks. Due to the extremely poor security situation, foreign and local investment was not attracted to the province, while those who already had business stakes in the province took it to other countries. This also resulted in the heavy brain-drain and human skills from the province. Resultantly, the extremist and terrorist forces got more space and a base in KP.
On the other hand, the political independence of the people of KP, the egalitarian nature of the society and tendency to give an opportunity to different political ideologies and manifestoes to deliver has been instrumental in the PTI tsunami in KP. Last, but not least, the Pakhtoon ancestry of Imran Khan (he belongs to the Niazi tribe of the Pakhtoons) has also played its role in heavy voting for the PTI. This shows that the nationalism of Pakhtoons is not narrow and is in fact enlightened as they were attracted by a Khan, who does not reside in the province but in the Punjab. The winning of Imran Khan from NA 1 Peshawar with a huge margin, bagging 66,000 votes against the scion of a well-entrenched ruling family of Bilours, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who even defeated Benazir Bhutto on NA 1, showed that they voted for a Khan, who although cannot speak Pashto but has Pakhtoon blood, while rejecting Bilour, who might be speaking Pashto but does not have Pakhtoon blood.
The slogan of "Naya Pakistan" (New Pakistan) of the PTI also attracted the people of KP and this also shows their love for Pakistan. While other political parties got votes by appealing to parochial slogans and the people responding to them, the people of KP voted for Pakistan.
Now if the PTI gets the chance, which it must be given, it will have huge challenges ahead. However, it is also a very big opportunity for the PTI to demonstrate its ability and capacity to rule in an efficient way. The PTI would be getting its first chance of government anywhere in the country. Already the PTI chief Imran Khan has declared that they would create an ideal government in KP. One hopes he is able to deliver. This would not only solve the very basic issues of the people, but would attract more foreign and local investment to the province. Infrastructure-wise, the KP is quite developed but there is a need to initiate huge development projects. This is the fundamental way to address the issues of religious extremism and terrorism. As Khan has the vision, policies and experience in conceiving, developing and running successful projects, this would go a long way in ensuring good governance in KP by the PTI government. It is important to note that the performance of the PTI in KP would also be a barometer for the people of KP, and also for the whole of Pakistan whether to vote for the PTI in the next elections or not. Someone came up with an interesting point. He said it is good that the PTI could not win a majority in the Centre and other provinces, as now all the PTI energies and capacity, which it has aplenty in its fold, would be concentrated on ensuring an ideal government in KP, which would result in unprecedented development. The PTI victory in KP would also be a constant pressure on the PML-N government at the Centre to perform exceptionally, as otherwise in the next elections it could lose public trust. Thus, the PML-N government at the Centre and in the Punjab and the PTI government in KP, would be in the interest of the people of Pakistan.

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