Pakistan: The unfairness of ‘free and fair’ elections

EDITORIAL:Daily Times

May 11, 2013 is a date that will be set in Pakistan history as the first election that was held on time after the completion of the five-year tenure of a democratically elected government. The Election Day was not just highly anticipated by the old electorate, it was a very significant occasion for a large chunk of the population comprising of the youth who emerged as the new voters, symbolising the hope people have in the power of the vote to effect change. One party whose main slogan was a New Pakistan, and whose main electoral strength was its young, first time voters was the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, and the power of this phenomenon, along with the regular electorate gave Pakistan a new milestone. For the first time in living memory, the voter turnout was said to be at 60 percent, which is almost double that of the last election. The announced result, which puts Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as the victor with its 124 seats, has more or less guaranteed its ability to form the government in the Centre and in Punjab, which should discourage the undesirable practice of horse-trading. Everything is not hunky dory though. The allegations of massive rigging across Pakistan have increasingly taken on the resonance of the common demand of many parties, especially the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, to the Election Commission of Pakistan to initiate investigations into all cases of alleged rigging. Albeit the result may not be affected to the extent that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would lose its majority, it is still imperative that having been approached through thousands of complaints of cheating and other irregularities, the Election Commission of Pakistan takes notice and orders inquiries and investigations. The false balloting, stuffing of boxes with bogus votes, rigged counting, and the partisan attitude of the polling officers towards the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are a few of the allegations being levelled against the winner, and it is something that needs to be noted/investigated without further ado. One of the most vehement complaints is against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Khwaja Saad Rafiq, who allegedly barged into women’s polling stations in the S-Sector of DHA, Lahore in NA-125, and harassed the opponent’s staff as well as the voters. The PTI chief Imran Khan has demanded re-counting in 25 constituencies, and this number is too big to be dismissed as a mere lament of grapes being sour by the runner-up. The allegations against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s manipulation of polling in certain constituencies in Karachi are of a more serious nature, as the methods said to have been used are criminal. The caretaker government’s inability to stop the Election Day irregularities — the appointment of whose setup was endorsed by the MQM after its very public departure from the government and parking itself on the Opposition benches at the Centre and in Sindh right on the eve of the elections — is a big black mark on the so-called neutrality of the caretakers. While no state institution seems to be involved in the outcome of the election, it is about time — before the peaceful protest turn into uglier shows of rejection of the election results — that the Election Commission of Pakistan under the very able guidance of Mr Fakhruddin G Ebrahim in an objective, non-partisan manner investigate thoroughly the ugly truth of what is behind the façade of the ‘free and fair’ elections. The failure to do so would be a black mark on the credibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan, which is already being criticised for its less than satisfactory performance on the Election Day.