Elections in Pakistan: another “Game of Throne”!

Elections are going to be held in Pakistan. General elections in Pakistan's faltering democracy are not less than any great event. Since the first elections held in Pakistan in 1970, the army's interference in the civilian governments, rigged Elections, military dictatorships and such things which prevails in a feudal society has remained constant till today.

After 71 years of independence, the people of Pakistan have undergone from 35 years of military rule and dictatorship. Only twice, the prime minister completed his five-year tenure. Statistics show that in these 71 years, there were 13 times governments formed in Pakistan, in which 18 people became Prime Minister 22 times.

About 460 million young voters, out of the eligible 1050 million voters, to vote in the general elections to be held in Pakistan. (Out of which 1.77 crore voters are between 18 and 25 years old.) According to the figures given on the website of the Pakistan Election Commission, in the six provinces of Pakistan, the names of 5.92 million men and 4.77 million women are included in the electoral rolls. This time, the number of women voters are less than 1.25 crore compared to men. A total of 91 lakh women will vote for the first time in this election.

There are a total of 342 seats in the National Assembly. Of these, 272 are filled by direct elections. In addition, the Pakistani Constitution reserves 10 seats for religious minorities and 60 seats for women, to be filled by proportional representation among parties with more than 5% of the vote.

Important Players

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, who has been disqualified from contesting elections for corruption allegations, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), cricketer turned leader, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) is scheduled to face a triangular contest. Apart from this, Islamic parties of Pakistan are again in the electoral battleground under the banner of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. The political party of the terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed, the Milli Muslim League, which has not received registration from the Election Commission, is now ready to contest under the banner of another lesser known political outfit Allaaho Akbar Tehrik.

 Innovations in these elections

In Pakistan this election is different in many ways than the former. Information revolution in Pakistan is also ready to play its part in the democratic process. Election analysts believe that this time youth who use social media will play a decisive role in formation of government in the sixth most populous country.

This time in Pakistan many changes have been made in the wake of the elections. The Election Commission has recently taken an unprecedented step and decided to deploy the army within the polling booth for the first time. Now, under another new change, every political party in Pakistan has been mandated to give tickets to at least 5 per cent of the women in general seats. This compulsion has been made under the 2017 Election Act.  At the same time, another step has been taken by the Pakistan Election Commission to increase the participation of women in the voting, under which if the voting percentage of women is less than 10 percent in any seat, then elections can be held again there.

In this election, a total of 21,482 candidates have enrolled, including 436 women and two Transgender. This time fewer candidates have filled the form than the last general election. In 2013, a total of 28,302 candidates had nominated. There is the highest number of 231 women contesting from Punjab province this time. Although this number may also increase, since the list has not yet been finalized by the parties. It is notable that the situation of women in Pakistan is very bad, but the presence of women representatives in Parliament is comparatively better. According to a report, according to the women representatives in parliament, Pakistan is at 89th in 199 countries of the world.

 Money must prevail!

Pakistan remains the largest flag bearer of feudalism in the 21st Century. Here a large population is deprived of the basic amenities for living. On the other hand, there is a large section that still enjoys all rights without any liability.  This is the Mehboob ul Haq’s extended version of   the famous "22 families" of 1960’s.

Here an independent candidate has surprised everyone after declaring assets worth around 403 billion. According to the reports, Mohammad Hussein Sheikh will fight the National Assembly from Muzaffargarh's NA-182 and PP-270 seats. Mohammed Hussein Shaikh claims that he owns nearly 40 percent of the land in Muzaffargarh town. In addition, he has hundreds of crores of land in Lang Malana, Talrii, Chak Talree and Latakaran areas. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Miriam Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People's Party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari have also declared assets worth billions of rupees.

Terrorists in the election?

In spite of being a non-registered party, Milli Muslim League (MML) the political face of banned terrorist outfit, Jamaat-ud-Dawah, has successful to launch its candidates in general elections of Pakistan. This organization is spearheaded by the mastermind of terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, Hafiz Saeed.

MML has tied up with an inactive but registered party, Allah-O-Akbar Tehrik (AAT). AAT has given tickets to 265 candidates of MML for the general elections to be held on July 25 in Pakistan. MML candidates include Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha Saeed and son-in-law Khalid Walid. Contesting in the election by MML not only shows the flaws in the working of Pakistan Election Commission but also in the Interior Ministry. The Commission and the Ministry had refused to register Saeed's party because its leaders and members belong to the restricted terrorist group. On the other hand, AAT President Ehsan Bari has clearly denied having any alliance with any group or party and has said that he has distributed 300 tickets. He said, "MML has announced to support our candidates”!

Corruption: Basic element of Pak-Politics!

The head of Pakistan Awami Tehrik and Muslim cleric Tahirul Qadri said that the Election Commission of Pakistan completely ignored sections 62 and 63 of the Constitution during the examination of the candidates. (These are the articles of the Constitution which mention "Sadiq and Amin" and under which Nawaz Sharif has been banned from contesting the lifelong election.) Qadri point out serious allegations that money launderers, mass murderers, accused of corruption and human trafficking and candidates with other serious charges have been allowed to contest elections. He said “such robbers will be part of the next Pakistani parliament. He said therefore, we are boycotting the elections and will continue the struggle against the corrupt system.”

What can be the political scenario after the elections?

According to the Pakistan Election Commission, on the last day of nomination, 12 thousand nomination papers were filled up (till June 11). There are a total of 342 seats in the Parliament, so 172 seats will be required to form the government. However, knowledgeable people of Pakistan's politics believe that no party will get a full majority.

In such a scenario, the arch rival political parties PTI, led by Imran Khan and PPP led by Bilawal Bhutto, if they together get more than two-thirds majority, they can join hands. Last time, Nawaz Sharif's party PML-N got less than six seats with a full majority. Nawaz Sharif formed the government with the help of 19 independents.

Apart from this, some Islamic parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat-i-Ulema-e-Pakistan (F) can move towards party or coalition near to power. And in the current scenario, Imran Khan seems to be most suitable for them.

AAT (MML’s new disguise) will run the controversial, radical and anti-India election campaign of Jamaat and Falah-e-Insaiahat founder Hafiz Saeed. Their political base is selling dreams to establishment of a dominion of fundamentalist Islam in Pakistan and perpetual hostility towards India. But by the performances in the last few by-elections by the MML and Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) it is estimated that they may capture a small chunk of votes, but more than winning the seats, they may be able to reverse some of the electoral maths in some constituencies particularly in Punjab, KP and FATA.

India's opposition and rancor has become an important parameter for the validity of Pakistan's creation and existence; therefore, it becomes a major issue for the election campaign for any political party in Pakistan. But the need, desire and skill of the government to smoothly transmit bilateral relations are able to make it somewhat shaky, which is obviously influenced by the ruling party's political needs.

In the present scenario, it appears that Pakistan's army and China are hopeful of the victory of Imran Khan and such a situation is worrying for India itself. The efforts of Pakistan Muslim League and Nawaz Sharif to improve relations with India have been sabotaged on many occasions. It is a matter of estimation of how the new Pakistani government shows commitment to regional peace amidst the constant pressures of China, but India needs to be ready to deal with any situation.