Political and Public Discourse in the backdrop of 'Regime Change' in Pakistan (2022): A Thematic Analysis of the Facebook pages of PTI, PML-N and PPP

In today’s day and age, the social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have converted a rather conventionally one way ‘political communication’ process into an effective and influential two-way communication process. This two-way communication process has an impact on the political communication phenomenon all around the world. Bearing in mind this aspect the researcher has attempted to explore how and to what extent the ‘public discourse’ matched or differed from the ‘political discourse’ regarding the political ‘regime change’ in Pakistan that took place in the first half of the April 2022. Employing the ‘Framing’ as theoretical basis the researcher has attempted to determine how the ‘regime change’ was framed in the political and public discourse. The researcher has employed thematic analysis as methodological tool in this study to identify, analyze and interpret the meanings within the political and public discourse in the backdrop of the ‘regime change’ appeared in the Facebook pages of the top three political parties in Pakistan i.e. Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).