A narrative is being run mainly by foreign handles and promoted internally that Establishment has no idea of public sentiment and results of 8 February are an example of it. It’s a dangerous narrative being purposefully spread for two effects; one that establishment especially its leadership is secluded and isolated and second that establishment and public at large are at crossroads.
This purported inferences have to be examined on reality and context.
While 48% of the voters participated in elections, 52% did not. So against a wave of high voter turnout supporting PTI the turnover was even less than 2018 elections. Amongst this 48%, who voted, from the winning percentage it is clear that at best 30-35% seats in context of National Assembly were taken by PTI; if a vote for PTI is manipulatively taken as an anti establishment vote, which in fact is not technically true since those who voted for PTI candidates voted due to multiple reasons and amongst few this could have been fuelled due to their anti establishment narrative. And even where PTI won, a substantial portion voted against them. Hence public sentiment derived from 8 February results tells us that a vast majority of people voted against anti establishment narrative and that those portions of certain segments who were somehow geared up by this externally geared hate on SM also once engaged logically have no good reason to base their narrative other than rhetoric.
It is also to be seen that establishment had no clear favourites in this election. Multiple Losses of stalwarts of N League, IPP etc is testimonial of a hands off approach rather than alleged micro management. The hands down mandate in KPK despite having all the elements to manipulate it with even MFR and PK loosing, all reflect a strategy based on let the masses decide.
What establishment should be blamed for is being naive of the propaganda that PTI launched on the eve of elections and not anticipating it. They should have learned their lessons from the media campaign launched earlier on nomination papers by same party whence in actual PTI filed maximum. Similarly Form 45 and exaggerating initial results of channels through paid and allied media combined with foreign handles and lobbyists should have been anticipated by an establishment which is keen on 5th Generational Warfare. It is there where they erred, thinking that as results will come, they will themselves showcase impartiality.
It is important that we allow facts to be heard and counted in developing our perceptions rather than biases and assumptions govern them.
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