Netizens love the ‘sportsmanship’ shown by Salman Naeem as he hugged Zain Qureshi, accepted PP-217 defeat gracefully

Elections are always a charged time that have politicians on edge with anticipation but PML-N’s Salman Naeem and PTI’s Zain Qureshi proved you can take the win and loss with grace and respect for one another. Their moment was caught on camera and netizens are appreciating the show of good “sportsmanship”.

The contest for Multan’s PP-217 constituency was neck and neck — Qureshi won the seat with 46,963 votes while the runner-up Naeem ended up with 40,104 votes.

The PTI candidate retweeted the moment following the announcement of results. It showed the two competitors in the same room as Naeem got up and hugged Qureshi, shaking his hand and congratulating him on the win. The latter thanked him and the two had a little chat, smiling all the while, before Naeem headed out.

The exchange was celebrated by netizens who regarded it as the ideal way of dealing with a competitor. They praised the show of sportsmanship and said the duo had set an example for how politicians need to interact with one another.

“All politicians must learn and practice this,” they said.

They also liked the fact that the two politicians waited for the results together.

Twitter users appreciated the “maturity of character” coming from the “two young future leaders of Pakistan”.

“Wins and losses are part of life” but respect should be a constant.

Congratulations to Qureshi and best wishes to Naeem!