DESPITE unending rumours, speculations and conjectures as well as legal, constitutional and political moves by different stakeholders, D-Day has arrived and people have an opportunity to make a choice who will represent them in provincial and national assemblies and form the next government. Some incidents of terrorism and violence notwithstanding, overall, the election campaign remained peaceful and similarly despite expression of reservations – some valid and others mere propaganda – all political parties are participating in the polling process which augurs well for the country.
Controversies do surround general elections not only in Pakistan but also in other democratic countries as well because of the stakes involved and the tendency on the part of the political parties and individual contestants to make wild allegations and use both fair and unfair means to advance their agendas. However, the general election of 2024 marks a pivotal moment in the nation’s democratic journey, showcasing both the challenges and the resilience of its electoral process. In normal circumstances, elections should have been held within 90 days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, which effectively meant these should have been held in November 2023 but this could not happen due to another constitutional requirement that fresh delimitation of constituencies on the basis of the latest Census. Then some vested interests kept on insisting that elections would be delayed further for this and that reason and some moves were also initiated from the platform of the Senate to stall the electoral process.
It is, however, encouraging that elections are now taking place despite seen and unseen hurdles and it is for 128 million registered voters to make well thought-out decisions while electing members of the 16th National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies. In the contest for the National Assembly are 5,121 candidates. They belong either to Pakistan’s 167 registered political parties or are independents. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been barred from using its traditional election symbol, the cricket bat, so its candidates will also be contesting as independents this time. This is the reason this election has the highest number of independents and the post-election posture and behaviour of the successful independents will significantly influence the process of formation of the next Government. It is also important to note that of 241 million people, two-third are below the age of 30 and, therefore, the youth could sway the elections if they chose to come out in meaningful numbers to cast their votes. A great responsibility devolves on the electorate as their decisions could either lend stability to the system or sharpen the already deep polarization in a country where inflation is hovering around forty percent, rupee has shed almost fifty percent of its values, brain-drain has assumed dangerous proportions because of political and economic uncertainty and disruptions in policies. There have been chronic shortages of electricity and gas and a sharp rise in their tariffs have made them dreaded services for the common man while frequent upward revisions of POL products have added to the woes of the people vis-à-vis inflation. The future outlook is also not encouraging for the masses in the face of what the country has already pledged to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and another bailout package seems to be unavoidable due to vulnerabilities of the country. No doubt, major political parties have made commitments to the people in respect of bringing down the rates of electricity and gas and taking steps to lower the back-breaking inflation but there are hardly any prospects for an immediate relief irrespective of who will emerge victorious in the elections. There are a host of factors that will influence the outcome of the voting and the process of government formation and, therefore, it is highly unpredictable to say anything about the kind of a win for any party. However, according to official estimates, as reported in a section of the media, PML(N) is likely to emerge the single largest party followed by the PPP and independents belonging to the PTI. With clan-loyalties not as strong as they used to be in the past, voters have, mostly, two options – vote on the basis of their political association and sympathies or elect representatives on the basis of their personality traits and track record of public service. A wiser choice could help change the destiny of the country.
