Pakistanis defy fear by turning up at polls
Today, the people, braving heat, humidity and the sun, have been queuing up all day long to cast their vote in Pakistan. This has included, men, women and the very old, some traveling long distances to reach the polling stations. While visiting a number of polling stations in three different constituencies in urban Lahore, I found great enthusiasm; glimmers of hope in the eyes and a big feeling of civic responsibility among the voters. In some places, I found the queues spreading very long in the narrow and winding streets of areas where the poor and lower middle class live.
The workers of different parties displaying party symbols, wearing party hats and T-shirts, were active in bringing old voters on motorbikes, and some were assisted to walk into the compounds of public schools where polling stations were set up. Bringing people to voting places on polling day is a real art and science of electioneering in Pakistan. No matter how much money, time and effort a party or candidate has spent on posters, political commercials and rallies, if they fail to create a localised organization to manage affairs at the level of a polling station, they may not succeed. Old parties and more experienced candidates have mastered the principle of local political organisation by employing the most effective, competent and motivated political activists. These workers make or break any elections in Pakistan, and they are the highly valued political asset of the political parties.
The party workers establish election camps in the vicinity of polling stations. This serves as a meeting point and a centre for coordinating polling-day activities. The fundamental task of the camp function under a colorful tent is to issue a prospective voter his or her polling number from the voters list that corresponds with the list the polling officials have inside the polling stations. It was remarkable to see the identity card numbers and the pictures of the voters on this list. I found the camps of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) crowded and busy in issuing numbers. It seems the major contest in the Punjab and in Lahore is between these two parties. They have concentrated their political resources in the Punjab—the dictum is, whosoever wins Punjab, will win Pakistan. This is realism based on the numbers of assemblymen and women to be elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from the Punjab, which has more than 50 percent of the constituencies or assembly seats.
The Punjab has been relatively more peaceful since the success against terrorist groups. The terror outfits, such as Daesh and the Tehreek Taliban-e-Pakistan, have attacked political rallies in Peshawar and Mastung in Balochistan, causing the death of two candidates and scores of citizens. The objective of the terrorists and the adversarial powers behind them was to disrupt the electoral process by causing fear and generating a sense of insecurity among the people of Pakistan.
Even in the face of security threats, the people of Pakistan have voted perhaps in greater numbers than ever before.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Even in the face of security threats, the people of Pakistan have voted perhaps in greater numbers than ever before. This is an impression: we will know for sure about the voter turnout in couple of days once the votes have been counted and the numbers are in. Remarkably, the resilience of the people of Pakistan and their deep commitment to elections as a means of forming and changing government has triumphed over fear. This is evident from reports of people voting in great numbers in different parts of the country.
Polling Day is a big festivity of colourful posters, banners bearing the party symbols and pictures of the party leaders and candidates hanging overhead across the streets or fixed on utility poles. Close to the polling stations one can smell the aroma of food being prepared for the voters, generally in rural areas where voters might have travelled long distances and are provided with beverages. This is also an occasion for old party friends and comrades to exchange pleasantries and ceaselessly comment on the future prospects of the political parties on the run.
I found this conversation among them and with me very engaging. Pakistani political activists are generally more opinionated and argumentative than anywhere else. They excel in proving their own party as full of angels and the opponents, as almost devils. While it may not provoke anyone within the same political camp, it can cause big trouble if such exchanges occur between the rivals. Gladly, I saw wisdom and pragmatism prevailing, and didn’t notice even a single incident of any such exchange. Rather, the party workers were more concentrated on the most immediate task of getting voters in the queue.
This was 11th time in the 70-year history of Pakistan that the people have voted for a new government. It will be the third peaceful transfer of power from one party to another, if the people elect a different party this time around. This would place Pakistan firmly on the rails of democracy, but the challenges before a new democratic government are going to be colossal—the declining economy, security, poor governance and corruption. The people of Pakistan have fulfilled their civic responsibility: let us see if the ruling elites of Pakistan will follow their part of the social contract by serving the public interest.
• Rasul Bakhsh Rais is professor of political science in the department of humanities and social sciences, LUMS, Lahore. His latest book is “Islam, Ethnicity and Power Politics: Constructing Pakistan’s National Identity. He is on Twitter: @RasulRais
