Elections, Pakistani Style

great article, as usual.

Elections!

I wish 20 year old`s were allowed to contest and I wish Elections were tommorow and I wish I was contesting against the most Influential of them all..oohhh how I wish..if only wishes could come true...:)

regards,

Taimur.

In response to Ras Siddiqui (Reply # 13)
Dear Ras:

I am once again moved by you reference to Naveed Qamar`s illegal incarceration. I understand, no person in a ``Legal Pakistan`` could be jailed for more than 90 days without due process.

It is a shame that the State which is supposed to protect the rights of its citizens has long been violating them.

We need to write against such gross injustices (if your information is verifiable)in the Pakistani press. Of all the newspapers, Frontier Post is one which publishes letters without any censorship (self or otherwise).

I had published a letter against a similar situation in the FP (in response to a letter from Ayesha Khalid Aziz, I think this was her name before her recent marriage; her father was incarcerated in the infamous Attock Fort; I don`t know them personally).

Isn`t injustice institutionalized in Pakistan since, at least, the colonial days? Are we free in a so-called free and independent Pakistan?

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

P.S. Please tell us more about Naveed Qamar. His name sounds familiar. Did he go to Karachi University?

My experiences with ``elections`` in Pakistan
have until recently been with through my good
friend Naveed Qamar ``MNA`` (if that really means
something in Pakistan). He was even Finance Minister of the country for a record full week and former head of Privatization effort in Benazir`s government. Naveed has been languishing in a Rawalpindi jail for over one year now without a trial.
You`re darn right that I`m pissed off due to
his treatment and see little room for improvement
in a country where idealists are treated in such
a manner.

Ras

if only 30%(or 18%) vote, and even those votes seem to be manipulated (as alleged), then how can it be claimed that the `jihadi parties` will never get more than 2 seats? maybe people are not being given `a free choice` to vote for these parties!

in free and fair elections (without the famous last names influencing the voters), can the jihadis come out as the winners?

;O)

RE: Ferozk

I agree with both of your notes-the serious one and the un-serious one.

According to statistics reported by Pakistani print media the Election Commission of Pak has identified 17 million bogus voters in a total voting list of 57 million people. In a particular case there were over 300 voters registered at a one room house in a shanty town in Lahore.

That pretty much explains why democracy fails at all levels in a country where only 30% of voters use their right to vote ( again govt. figures, whereas conservative estimates put this number down to 18%).

Voting must be made mandatory and failure to comply with this requirement should be made a punishable offence by law.

re Umairr #2:

The article is a simple narration of the electoral realities in Pakistan. Your analysis of the malaise afflicting Pakistan is too simplistic.

The scions of the political elite do not need to burn the midnight oil in far-off lands when they can get sugar and honey in their own constituencies. Thought experiments of the expatriates who`ve done well in ``international business`` are too harraowing to narrate here. We had the Shahid Burkis and Mehboob-ul-Haqs of this world taking us for a ride earlier. Now we have the Moeen Qureshis and Shaukat Azizes of this world cooking up recipes for a grand Armageddon. The Sun microsystems guy was the cleverest of them all.He had the good sense to realize whats good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander.

I am always amazed by the desire of otherwise intelligent Paksitanis looking for the elusive mard-i-momin to set things right. One shudders at the thought of Edhi(the great man that he is) ever put in charge of cleansing Pakistan. Being good at one thing does not translate into being good at another.

As far as the issue of privileged families is concerned, look at the grandest democracies of them all-USA. Even in yesterday`s elections there were only a handful of races that were up for grabs in the Senate and Congress. Imagine going up against a Kennedy in Massachussets or a Bush in Texas or a Quayle in Indiana. These families have occupied the political landscape for a long long time and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Unlike other Pakistanis I don`t think Pakistan needs to send its elite into outer space. Its elite needs to realize that it needs the cooperation of the middle classes to run the country. Remember Pakistan was not founded by the haris or the Muzarays. It was founded by the elite of the day. Sadly the elite has not been able to devise a social contract with the middle classes in order to split the pie somewhat proportionately. The NABs of this world will put some privileged ones out of business but like a hydra-headed monster it will come back more powerful than before. The Army being a middle-class institution(with middle-class mores and thoughts) cannot cure what ails Pakistan. The tragedy of Pakistan is the tragedy of lack of thought on its elite`s part.

later

-sac

Zeejah :

I really liked the article.

Thanks !

-Arun Gupta

Re: tahmed321 # 4

On a serious note, do elections really happen in Pakistan?

When was the last time an election was held in Pakistan?

How is power transfered in Pakistan? Coup d` état, storming the Supreme Court or via some other means?

I would love to read your observations/comments on these questions!

Ciao!

At another election an old woman came up to me asking ``Are you `Mayun Khan`s sister?`` My heart sank for I thought she was going to ask for some `sifarish`. But instead she told me, ``Tell `Mayun Khan that I have voted for him ever since he has been standing for elections because he has built roads and schools and brought sweet, fresh water to my village.``

For some reason my hair stood on end. Later, when I told Humayun about it he said his hair had stood on end too and that remarks such these made all his hard work a pleasure.

Dear Zeejah (Zeenat Jahan?):

An interesting and informative narrative!

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Ferozk #1 ``Need I say more!!!!!!!!!``

Thanks for sparing us your observations.

Timely article, today being election day in the US. Election day is the day that the true joy of a free society can be felt in the air. I felt it in Pakistan between martial laws. And I feel it here in the US, where elections are held in a peaceful, quiet and yet very exciting manner. The only time the magic wasnt there in Pakistan was during Zia`s ``election`` when people generally stayed away realizing the whole thing was a set up. However, my Dad insisted on going to the voting booth in Islamabad in order to use the opportunity to cast his vote against Zia - we were the only voters who showed up it seems, and were gratefully escorted around like royalty by the police and other Zia minions, which simply increased our great pleasure when we put a NO against the proposition that Zia should stay in power.

PS Loved your line ``She included his belt, and my reading glasses in some curses I could not understand.``

The author says at the end:

``Next elections I will be back in Ghaznikhel, inshaAllah.``

Next elections - now that would be a long wait, wouldn`t it?

I would be interested in getting your views on the domination of the elections in Pakistan by a few families, year after year. And the efforts of these families to hold on to power, at the expense of the common man; in the process destroying whatever is left of Pakistan.

This in my opinion is one of the biggest problems facing Pakistan. Leghari, Khattak, Khosa, Khar, Bugti, Bhutto, Wali, this Khel and that Khel; unless one has the correct last name, one has very little shot of winning. It is basically a shoot out between the offsprings and siblings of politically powerful families, who have screwed up Pakistan, decade after decade. The most competent amongst this pool of incompetent last- names, ends up winning. I have some friends who fall into these categories. On the average, the best amongst them are incompetent in comparison to the above-average amongst the educated population of Pakistan. The worst amongst them are massively incompetent in comparison to the average Pakistani Joe. The small pool of last- names that dominate Pakistani politics, makes the choices of the average Pakistani voter quite limited.

It is not a coincidence that very very few of these people make it big (or even make an attempt to make it) in merit-based systems like the USA, where they lose the advantages of their last- name. One of have to look long and hard to find a Khar, or an uz-Zamman, a Chatha, or a Wali relative of the ruling dynasties (both, of the pre-British or post-British group) who has distinguished himself/herself in the international arena. One would also have to look long and hard to find a descendent of politically powerful generals like Ayub Khan and Zia who distinguished themselves anywhere, outside Pakistan. Idiots like Ejaz-ul-Haq, Gohar Ayub, and Humayun Akhtar, and the other beneficiaries of parents-in-power could barely make it even into middle management in international business, yet they return to Pakistan to control the destinies of the Pakistani populace. Same goes for the feudally powerful or the politically-powerful off-spring. It`s quite disgusting.

At most, the last-names are able to get into a good university (usually through political contacts or money). Thats about as much as they can do. Almost every Pakistani that has made it in a neutral international environment comes from the middle-class or at most upper middle class in terms of finance and political influence. Yet these last-names seem to dominate the Pakistani political process, thereby not allowing the best and brightest in Pakistan to enter this arena. Their only competitions are the cousins who belong to the opposition political parties. Some through political connections have now started dominating business, as well.

This is a pretty good article, as far as describing the environment of a Pakistani election. However, perhaps unintentionally, it describes all that is wrong with Pakistan also. The influential few, with historical last-names (or relationships with historical last-names), flying into, ``their`` ancestral villages, moving in chauffeur driven 4 x 4s and vans and attempting to get votes from the poor people who remain poor, despite voting for these candidates. Of course each candidate and his/her family member will always portray himself/herself as the, ``enlightened one`` who through their NGO work has actually benefited the area greatly. They have also fought for, ``democracy`` in Pakistan. They will point to the odd aunt, who donates a lot of money, or the odd uncle who is still not too wealthy because he would not accept bribes (implying that a person who has a good last-name and does not take bribes definitely deserves to be an MNA, as his birth-right), or the odd great grandfather who made it on his own. Somehow or the other, all the areas these people represent still remain in the fifth world, despite of the, ``good work`` of all these good aunts, uncles, and cousins who seem to be running representing these places, generation after generation. Compare this to the great work done by Dr. Akhtar in Orangi, and Edhi in all of Pakistan. I would take Imran Khan`s cancer hospital over what these last-names have done, anyday.

All of Pakistan (especially the rural areas) has always remained in the control of a few hundred families. They fight elections amongst each other, passing on the baton, to the next son, in-law, cousin, etc or whomever else, who seems a bit more capable than the opponents son, in-law, cousin etc. It is a big family affair (US politics to a much smaller extent is a family affair, also. But at least here the candidates actually do something for the their communities). The sooner Pakistan is rid of these urban last- names that continue to enslave the rural no-names, the quicker Pakistan will progress.

I am going off on a tangent, however I think this article describes everything that is wrong with Pakistani politics, i.e. the privileged last-names, fighting it out amongst their cousins and distant relatives (who belong to the opposing parties), while knowingly or unknowingly keeping their constituencies backwards. I have an odd relative or two who fall into this category in Punjab, and I despise them with a passion, regardless of how nice they are to me. It is still a well-established fact that when these guys grow old and die, the person who will climb their political throne will not be the most competent person from the community, but one of the offsprings of the current lot.

My criticism isn`t directed at the writer or her family personally. It is directed towards the, ``uppity`` ness of the article, which casually describes the core environment of the Pakistan political system, without pointing them out as problems. I wouldn`t be surprised if a portion of the writer`s close relatives contests the elections from the ANP platform and another portion from the PML platform (and perhaps a few even as PPP candidates and as independents). This is generally the strategy followed by the last-names in Pakistan who dominate rural politics. Half the family in the ruling party, the other half in the opposition party. Somehow or the other, their own kids prefer to live in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Yet these kids, when they grow up, are rarely willing to fight elections from these urban metropolises.

The best thing the off-springs of these last- names could do is to let the poor rural people elect rural leaders from their own communities, rather than flying in from Peshawar, to their rural homes, to aid in the process of furthering the hold of their relatives. Please get out of the way of these poor rural people, so they can progress. At the very least, please don`t patronize their simple behavior.

Elections in Pakistan?

Need I say more!!!!!!!!!

Ciao!