The deadline for the filing of the nomination papers for the next general election expired on Sunday. Over 10,000 candidates have filed their papers for 849 general seats of the national and provincial assemblies. In 2008 elections, over 15,000 candidates had filed the papers - over 10,000 for the provincial assemblies and around 5,000 for national assembly seats. The decline in nomination is understandable. The provision in the nomination papers has put up an in-built scrutiny on the candidates. The fear of strict scrutiny of nomination papers has seemingly kept thousands of aspiring candidates away from the electoral arena thus dropped the number of candidates to about two-thirds of those who had filed nomination papers in the previous general elections. It is a healthy sign that has been witnessed in the first phase of the elections. Much wanted purge and cleansing of the corrupt parliamentarians has set foot in the political process. Indeed, this is a first step in right direction. The completion of the first phase in a peaceful atmosphere must have encouraged the ECP personnel to perform their duty more authoritatively. Even more important aspect that has been observed is that the elections, considered being a domain of the rich, saw some degree of diversification-even some of candidates from the poor or lower middle class also turned up to submit their nomination papers. Amidst fears of terrorist attacks, on the last day for the filing of the nomination papers, a number of candidates turned to offices of the local Returning Officers in rallies; some rode on bicycles and others on push-cards. Notwithstanding the rich displayed their muscles in splashing cars and vans. The surprise of the day was witnessed in war-torn FATA. The people of the FATA are hard pressed against war on terror. The firing, suicide bombing and turf war have become an order of the day. A large number of residents of the area have been forced to abandon the houses and are living in badly managed so-called relief camps. Yet they showed their keenness to participate in the election regardless they win or lose. The area is virtually under control of extremists. In under-developed FATA, having no precedent of letting a poor male to take part in the election, two brave ladies came forth to file their nomination papers to contest the forthcoming elections of the National Assembly. First nomination came forth in Lower Dir and other in Bajour Agency. Both ladies, irrespective of win or loss, have written a new history of the elections in the country. A 40-year-old Badam Zari, wife of Sultan Khan, filed papers for NA-44, Bajaur and the other woman candidate Nusrat Begum wife of Karim Khan from Lower Dir, filed her papers for NA-34 constituency as an independent candidate. Fearless Ms Zari says she wants to do something for women of area what has never been done by any male member of the parliament before while Nusrat the district vice president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf picked up the courage to contest the election when her party denied her ticket. She vows to fight for basic amenities to the people, especially women, children and minorities. No doubt it is a major development in the country and a rich reward for the nation that stood for democracy. The two brave ladies must have infused a lot of courage and conviction amongst the women folk of Pakistan putting across a message that the poor women too must stand up for their rights, challenging the writ of the rich families in the power corridors. The residents of the FATA, given the right to vote for the first time, undergo a change wherein now no one can stop even women from taking part in elections and exercising their right to vote. Indeed, the democracy has infused a new spirit amongst the people living in the far-flung areas-- no matter how hard hit are they by extremists or any body else. The two ladies, making a courageous move, deserve rich appreciation, strong support and fool-proof protection to groom their passion for the vote. The task of filing nomination paper is complete. In the second phase, the scrutiny of the papers will continue till April 7. It is a gigantic task but the Election Commission of Pakistan will meet the challenge in the given short time frame. Those who earlier used to manage to enter the assemblies by concealing facts now can be shown the door any time because the new mechanism will pose a constant threat of prosecution and conviction entailing disqualification for committing corrupt practices. New history of Pakistan is in the making, and the ECP led by weak and elderly Election Commissioner will be the founder of corrupt-free Pakistan.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
FATA ladies write election history
The deadline for the filing of the nomination papers for the next general election expired on Sunday. Over 10,000 candidates have filed their papers for 849 general seats of the national and provincial assemblies. In 2008 elections, over 15,000 candidates had filed the papers - over 10,000 for the provincial assemblies and around 5,000 for national assembly seats. The decline in nomination is understandable. The provision in the nomination papers has put up an in-built scrutiny on the candidates. The fear of strict scrutiny of nomination papers has seemingly kept thousands of aspiring candidates away from the electoral arena thus dropped the number of candidates to about two-thirds of those who had filed nomination papers in the previous general elections. It is a healthy sign that has been witnessed in the first phase of the elections. Much wanted purge and cleansing of the corrupt parliamentarians has set foot in the political process. Indeed, this is a first step in right direction. The completion of the first phase in a peaceful atmosphere must have encouraged the ECP personnel to perform their duty more authoritatively. Even more important aspect that has been observed is that the elections, considered being a domain of the rich, saw some degree of diversification-even some of candidates from the poor or lower middle class also turned up to submit their nomination papers. Amidst fears of terrorist attacks, on the last day for the filing of the nomination papers, a number of candidates turned to offices of the local Returning Officers in rallies; some rode on bicycles and others on push-cards. Notwithstanding the rich displayed their muscles in splashing cars and vans. The surprise of the day was witnessed in war-torn FATA. The people of the FATA are hard pressed against war on terror. The firing, suicide bombing and turf war have become an order of the day. A large number of residents of the area have been forced to abandon the houses and are living in badly managed so-called relief camps. Yet they showed their keenness to participate in the election regardless they win or lose. The area is virtually under control of extremists. In under-developed FATA, having no precedent of letting a poor male to take part in the election, two brave ladies came forth to file their nomination papers to contest the forthcoming elections of the National Assembly. First nomination came forth in Lower Dir and other in Bajour Agency. Both ladies, irrespective of win or loss, have written a new history of the elections in the country. A 40-year-old Badam Zari, wife of Sultan Khan, filed papers for NA-44, Bajaur and the other woman candidate Nusrat Begum wife of Karim Khan from Lower Dir, filed her papers for NA-34 constituency as an independent candidate. Fearless Ms Zari says she wants to do something for women of area what has never been done by any male member of the parliament before while Nusrat the district vice president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf picked up the courage to contest the election when her party denied her ticket. She vows to fight for basic amenities to the people, especially women, children and minorities. No doubt it is a major development in the country and a rich reward for the nation that stood for democracy. The two brave ladies must have infused a lot of courage and conviction amongst the women folk of Pakistan putting across a message that the poor women too must stand up for their rights, challenging the writ of the rich families in the power corridors. The residents of the FATA, given the right to vote for the first time, undergo a change wherein now no one can stop even women from taking part in elections and exercising their right to vote. Indeed, the democracy has infused a new spirit amongst the people living in the far-flung areas-- no matter how hard hit are they by extremists or any body else. The two ladies, making a courageous move, deserve rich appreciation, strong support and fool-proof protection to groom their passion for the vote. The task of filing nomination paper is complete. In the second phase, the scrutiny of the papers will continue till April 7. It is a gigantic task but the Election Commission of Pakistan will meet the challenge in the given short time frame. Those who earlier used to manage to enter the assemblies by concealing facts now can be shown the door any time because the new mechanism will pose a constant threat of prosecution and conviction entailing disqualification for committing corrupt practices. New history of Pakistan is in the making, and the ECP led by weak and elderly Election Commissioner will be the founder of corrupt-free Pakistan.
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