Pakistan’s political history is a chequered account of occasional progress towards representative democracy and many relapses into post-colonial oppression similar in many ways to its colonial avatar. Those who resisted martial law regimes,braved victimisation for their political ideology and remained loyalto their parties have not been forgotten. For their dignified conduct, they are respected by all and sundry. The opportunists and turncoats who were part of the conspiracies hatched against democratic leaders are looked down upon for preferring personal interests over altruistic objectives. Despite the many compromises they have made, the three major political parties have fielded several candidates for the forthcoming elections who have always conducted themselves like heroes.

Pakistan Peoples Party has awarded a majority of tickets in Balochistan to candidates who have recently joined the party from other groups.This is essentially because it had no other options in the province. However, it has also chosen some great candidates. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani suffered jail time but did not flinch in his loyalty to the party. As if that were not enough, he also lost his premiership and his seat in the parliament for standing up to judicial overreach. He and his family were attacked and one of his sons was kidnapping and held hostage by extremists. Now he and his three sons are PPP candidates contesting three National Assembly seats and a Punjab Assembly constituency from Multan. QamarZamanKaira, the PPP central Punjab leader, is contesting a National Assembly seat from Kharian. Kairahad lost a cousin in the December 2007 suicide bombing that also killed Benazir Bhuttoin Rawalpindi.

Nadeem Afzal Chan, a stalwart from Sargodha who left the PPP in 2018 and joined the PTI, was appointed as spokesperson for former prime minister Imran Khan. However, he quit the PTI while it was and re-joined the PPP. His father Haji Afzal Chan has always been a PPP member.

Mian Misbah-ur Rehman, a former president of the Lahore PPP, is a candidate for the Punjab Assembly from a Lahore constituency. His participation is a pleasant surprise for the party activists. The constituency has an overlap with NA-127 where PPP chairman BilawalBhutto is running for National Assembly.

The PPP has also awarded tickets to the old guard in Sindh.They include former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sisters Faryal Talpur and Dr Azra Pechoho. In a couple of constituencies, it has awarded tickets to new candidates who may bring their personal vote bank. In Sindh, the PPP has also awarded tickets to people belonging to the Hindu community. Dr Mahesh Malaniis running for NA 215 (Tharparkar) and Ram Kishori Lal from PS 45 (MirpurKhas). Besides, the PPP has awarded a ticket to Dr Saveera Parkash, making her the first Hindu female to contest a general seat from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, the Awami National Party stalwart, who lost his brother Bashir Bilour during the 2013 campaign and his nephew Haroon Bilour in 2018, is contesting the NA-32 constituency in Peshawar. Haroon Bilour’s widow, Samar Bilouris a candidate for PK-83. The ANP has awarded general seats tickets to five women for the KP Assembly seats and one woman for a National Assemblyseat.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has also kept faith with its staunch supporters for most National and Provincial Assembly constituencies in the Punjab. However, it has sacrificed four NA and seven PA constituencies for an alliance with the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party. In Jhang and Faisalabad, it has awarded tickets to former PPP and PTI leaders, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Nawab Sher Waseer and Raja Riaz.

Nawaz Sharif, himself is contesting two National Assembly constituencies, NA-15 Nowshera and NA-130, Lahore. In Rawalpindi, the PML-N has awarded tickets to Raja Qamar-ul Islam, Aqeel Anjum and Hanif Abbasi, who faced persecution on account of their loyalty before they were finally acquitted by the courts. In Okara, it has fielded Riaz-ul Haq who refused to join the PTI in 2018 and had to face bogus cases.

Begum Tehmina Daultana, a close aide to the late Begum Kalsoom Nawaz in her struggle against Gen Musharraf’s rule has a ticket for a National Assembly constituency in Vehari.

PML-N heavy weights, Shahbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shahbaz, RanaSanaullah, Ahsan Iqbal, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Javed Latif and Khurram Dastgir Khan are running for the National Assembly. Shahbaz, Hamza and Maryam are also contesting provincial assembly seats.

The PTI has been in a bad shape following the May 9 incidents. Many of its electableshave abandoned the party and either formed splinter groups like the IPP and the PTI-Parliamentarian or left politics. Resultantly, over 2,400 PTI supporters have filed nomination papers across Pakistan for various National and Provincial Assembly constituencies. PTI’s newly elected chairman Gohar Ali Khan, in consultation with the jailed PTI’s founder Imran Khan, has released a list of endorsed candidates which includes many new names.

The PTI has also awarded tickets to Gohar Ali Khan, Shandana Gulzar, Ali Muhammad Khan, Atif Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Shoaib Shaheen, columnist Ayaz Amir, former Punjab governor Latif Khosa, lawyer Salman Akram Raja and Dr Yasmeen Rashid.

The PPP could have launched Farhatullah Babar, Sherry Rehman and Raza Rabbani in constituency politics. Likewise, the PML-N could have fielded Pervaiz Rashid but did not take that option.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, and analyst. He tweets at @BukhariMubasher