Zartaj Gul – a 28 year old woman, a novice in politics, ran for a National Assembly seat in a region of Pakistan dominated by family politics, she did not win, but came third… a remarkable achievement for a first time run. Essentially, in many areas of Pakistan, political seats, so-call parlimentary representation, are considered family heirlooms. This may have been all fine and well – when the middle class was under the domination and patronage of the elites. This has significantly changed over the past few years (for a variety of reason) – many have found their voice and hopes and aspiration in Imran Khan. I’ll be writing more on this change – but I would like to suggest that Pakistan’s population probably breaks down something like this: 2-3% top super top elite – both rural and urban/industrial elites -i.e. top of the pyramid, maybe about 25-30% (maybe less – but not more) middle class – the rest, likely around 70%, are working/peasant class.

The movement that Imran Khan is leading is primarily composed of 25-30% of the country, but I wold also suggest that this class is complex – although middle-class, they are not all that far from the working class of the country – culturally or even economically – more on this in another post…