A review report of a government organization has revealed that in the general elections to be held on February 8, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will emerge as the largest party, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The third in line is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) while other parties will follow.
Geo’s Umar Cheema reported an official who spoke to The News on the condition of anonymity and said that the government body came up with the analysis based on information gathered through interviews with police sources, revenue department, labor unions and professionals in various sectors.
He explained that the review has been carried out at the police station and union council level. The survey has been done scientifically to remove the possibility of wrong estimates, although the popularity rate of PML-N has been lower in the surveys conducted so far. An optimistic estimate has been made as the party has recorded an increase in popularity since the return of Nawaz Sharif, but no one has so far given an estimate of how many seats the party can win.
International media has also presented Nawaz Sharif as the future prime minister, but whether he will be able to get a simple majority or not is not clear. According to this official assessment, the PML-N will bag between 115 and 132 seats in the National Assembly.
The inclusion of reserved seats for women and minorities would mean that the party would have a chance to form a government alone with a simple majority. It can get close seats, which means PML-N can get a complete majority in the provincial assembly.
PML-N can make a clean sweep in Punjab except for a few districts, says the survey.
According to the estimate, PML-N will form a government with a possible two-thirds majority in Punjab, PML-N will succeed in forming coalition governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, while the PPP has the possibility of forming a government only in Sindh.
The review report says that PPP can get 35 to 40 seats at the center while the independent candidates of PTI can get between 23 to 29 seats. MQM may get 12 to 14 seats, JUI six to eight seats, Q-League and Satwat Pakistan Party are expected to get two to three seats in the National Assembly.
