Elections are the most happening and significant occasion where the fortune of the nation is being decided by the nation themselves. But wait, have you voted in recent elections? This question forms the basis of this blog and if you have not used your vote this time make sure you are well prepared to vote in the next election (this is your obligation as a citizen of the country). Below we will be discussing some important considerations that actually help you get ready for next election.

Conform Your Registration
So, the elections are coming and you still are not sure whether you are registered in voters list or not? Isn’t this nasty and gross? You need to be very sure that your name is listed in voters list well before elections. If you are not sure then it is your duty to find out from your local government or by any other means. Nowadays, voter list can be accessed over internet on many government or private websites. Start searching for your name and if you fail to find your name get in touch with local administration to get register.
Getting yourself registered among voters list is the utmost important and fundamental responsibility of all voters. As a responsible citizen of the society, everyone should be registered to use his or her fundamental right to vote. Unfortunately, voting ratio in our country is below among lowest in the world, which is reflected by turnover during past elections. Wait, this is not enough, you are obliged for not only your registration, but also you have to register all your family members. So, get your butts up and get ready to register for the upcoming election.

Get Familiar with your polling station
Once you get yourself registered in voters list, it is time to get familiar with your polling station. Usually you will have a polling station near to your residence but there are occasion where you might get troubled over the location of your polling station. So, make sure before the Election Day you are completely familiar with the precise location of polling station and avoid any messy delays.

Get Familiar with the Candidates:
Whoa! Are you thinking to cast your vote on linguistic, ethnic, or political affinity basis? Friend you got to be kidding right! Elections are not a joke and you need to understand the magnitude and stakes that are involved in elections. Do not just waste your vote to enhance your personal agenda or even community agenda. You have to understand things at a bigger perspective. Try to turn tables around this time and vote wisely. Choose the best candidate with a high morality and honest politician rather than any corrupt political parasites who will eventually suck the life out of the people.

Believe it that once the nation raise above their political and other affinities on the Election Day, the course of country would be changed forever. Though electoral process in Pakistan is not up to the international standards and there are loopholes for rigging, still the nation has to bear the responsibility of choosing the right candidate based on policy statement and not based on political affinity.

The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

Being an informed citizen of Pakistan we should definitely have the information about national legal framework of the election laws and international standard which embark upon on our internal mechanism and serve as bench mark.
In order to analyze fairly, it is pertinent to have a start from the constitution first to know what it offers to its citizen. Do basic freedoms exist for exercise of fundamentals rights for citizen of Pakistan? Pakistan constitution 1973 covers protections for political and democratic rights for its citizens like freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of speech which mainly lays grounds for democratic culture in a country. Further constitution offers right of information to its citizens on all matters of public affairs and particularly state is responsible to treat all citizens on equality principle without any prejudice.

Regarding election conduct and appointment of election commissioner, constitution embarks through article 218 and 213 and offers democratic process amended by 2010 legislative body. Similarly Article 219 of the Constitution, under 18th Amendment, assigns the Election Commission with the responsibility of preparing electoral rolls and revising them annually as well as conducting elections to the Senate or filling up the vacant seats in the Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies. Further, the Commission can also appoint Election Tribunals to adjudicate upon post-election disputes and conduct local government election under newly amended articles.
Previously electoral laws were mostly amended by the military regimes with overwhelm intent to extend military rule, deter political course and to restrict working of political parties. Like Political Parties Order 2002, Conduct of General elections 2002, Allocation of election symbols 2002 etc. Though legal framework for electoral laws exist in country in bits and parts and needs to be reformed in consolidated manner; it must cover aspiration of democratic processes for political parties and transparent mechanisms for election conduct necessarily if country is proceeding towards democracy.

Democracy Blog: Evolution of Democracy in Pakistan
Pakistan is sixth most populous country in the world, created on the basis of popular will of people in 1947 with the vision to have a liberal, moderate and democratic parliamentary federation. Soon after independence, Pakistan adopted British legacy constitutional framework and introduced the parliamentary democracy, following much from the Government of India Act 1935 – the last constitution of British India.However, Pakistan being a postcolonial state, the democratic experience was underpinned by the steel frame of bureaucracy and political stability and institutionalized democratic set up remained a distant dream.
Democracy: Space for Civil Society
Technology aided elections is the latest fever that grips those concerned in any way with the elections in Pakistan. To them it is a ‘silver bullet’ that will deliver free, fair and transparent elections. Apparently they are well on their way to reinventing the wheel. Recently ECP, on the recommendation of Parliamentary Electoral Reforms Committee, has piloted Biometric voter verification system (BVVS) in a by-election in Haripur. The assumption on the part of pro technology segments is that an overwhelming majority of the electorate during the 2018 elections will be a smart phone using one; hence will be more at home using technology to cast their vote.
Democracy: Rise of Nations
Democracy is a system in which all the people or members of a society, community, country, state and nation have equal right to vote and power. Democracy is actually a wakeup call for the sleeping nations to alter their political fate. Every nation and state has its own ideology of democracy. It is a misunderstanding of politics that systems of government are like pieces of machinery which can be imported from other countries and would work as efficiently as they worked in the country of their origin; or a system of government can be successfully transplanted from one country to another. Every society has its own traditions of behaviors. Political and democratic systems usually arise from the traditions of behaviors.
Democracy: The backbone of a system
Democracy and participatory governance are popular political nations in today’s world. Fair and free elections are the key pre-requisite of democracy. However, democracy lacks substance unless the electoral process is coupled with the supremacy of the constitution, the rule of law, and civil and political rights and freedoms for the people. The state must practice the principle of equal citizenship irrespective of religion, caste, ethnicity and regional background. It must also ensure equality of opportunity to all for advancement in social, economic and political domains and guarantee security of life and property of its citizens.
Democracy: The most essential and fundamental element
Democracy is the most essential and fundamental element for managing the affairs of society systematically. Democracy and participatory governance are popular political patterns in the modern world. In a broader sense democracy encompasses the leading features; fair and free election process, supremacy of the constitution, the rule of law, and freedom for the people. In other words democratic state must practice the principles of equal citizenship irrespective of religion, caste, ethnicity and regional background. It must also ensure equality of opportunity to all for advancement in social, political and economic domains and guarantee security of life and property to its citizens.
Democracy: How wrongly do we strive?
Democracy was once considered a phenomenon that meant that, it was a government that was organized for the people, by the people and of the people. Today, Pakistan remains a paradox in the world. Democracy alone has been one of the biggest factor that plunged back Pakistan from the heights of justice, national growth and better economy for the poor class. The providence of democracy in Pakistan has only been injustice, questions on national solidarity and the show of power of the elite. Alas! How wrongly do we strive to build and maintain this nation?
Democracy is a universal value
Democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.
While democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy.

As Pakistani public celebrate successful transition of power from one elected government to another through 2013 general elections, some very important questions come up in my mind regarding possible participation of minorities which include Shia Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Ahmedies. Approx figures of non Muslim minorities in Pakistan range from 6 to 10 percent of total Pakistani population. Shia muslims make up to 20 to 35 percent. However, the new wave of violence against minorities in Pakistan namely Shia’s and Christians is a matter of concern. Also almost negligible participation of non Muslim minority candidates in elections depicts the trust deficit minorities have in Pakistan’s democratic system. We also did not see open support by different leading political parties for rights of minorities in Pakistan. May be this is the reason that Pakistan’s minorities did not openly support any political party and decided to vote for their local candidates based on individual preferences.

But despite all above issues, did Pakistan’s minorities participate in these elections? Well the answer can be Yes and No. If we look at voter’s turnout then there is a possibility that minorities did come out to vote, however, did they vote for safe guarding their rights? The answer is No. They voted on individual preferences and for their local Muslim candidates. Murder of Christian Federal Minister Mr Shahbaz Bhatti, attacks on Christian neighborhood in Lahore, killing of Hazara Shias in Balochistan are one of few incidents targeting minorities in Pakistan. With such attacks pacing up, Muslim and non Muslim minorities of Pakistan remain under constant threat from terrorist and fundamental elements. Non Muslim minorities know that blasphemy law can be used against them at any time leading to death sentence with minimal proof. Most of such cases were later reported to be fake and were charged for vested interests of accusers. In these circumstances, and with almost no emphasis on safe guarding rights of minorities in Pakistan by leading political parties, one finds it hard to believe that minorities voted with same zeal and commitment as their Muslim brothers and sisters did.

Both National and Provisional Assemblies of Pakistan have reserved seats for minorities and women. Candidates are nominated based on number of seats won by different political parties. These candidates enjoy equal status as of elected members of assemblies, however can be replaced by nominating political party at any time and their membership is subject to party loyalty.

Surveys have shown that there are 96 constituencies of National and Provincial Assemblies where minorities dominate voter strength and without their support it’s impossible for competing candidates to win. However, these minority voter dominated constituencies are represented by Muslim candidates in NA and PA. The security challenges did hamper minority voter turnout in Pakistan, a lot needs to be done to ensure minorities in Pakistan fully participate in electoral process of Pakistan and their immediate concerns are addressed namely security. The confidence building mechanism have to be undertaken by leading Parties. Minorities should also focus on a single platform like they had early 90’s.

The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

Have we become so disillusioned with the voting process and politics in general, that we have just tuned out from society at large? I have friends that have told me that their votes don’t matter and that the problems are so big that nothing can make it better, but I disagree. They say that nobody “good” runs for office anymore because politics have become so negative. That it doesn’t matter who the face is, they are basically all the same. While I agree that things have become very negative and some candidates talk more about their opponents’ weaknesses than sharing their own plans or solutions, not voting is not a solution. Even if we feel that parties in general have lost the vision, there have to be some good people still wanting to make a difference. There have to be some good people in politics who are there for the right reasons and who want to be effective leaders.

I think that it’s way too easy for us to disengage and say that we can’t make a difference. It’s too easy to say, “I don’t want to vote because things are such a mess and they will never change.” I also think that we have become a little lazy. We think that if we don’t vote that we are distancing ourselves from any responsibility. We also are too lazy to do a little homework and research to find accurate information about certain issues or certain people. How many of us have actually read the manifestos of the political parties to see what they project as our future? I hear people complaining about everything that is wrong, but none of us really make the effort to see how the various parties are looking at resolving it. We hear their speeches that highlight the important issues without having the time to go into detail, and assume that that is all there is to their party – their speeches! We should do our own research.

Media continues to show that people are disillusioned and angry at the state of affairs. Are we just so angry that we are going to blame whomever we can blame at the moment? I do

feel like we, Pakistanis, have become somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction society that reacts to the most recent headlines and scare tactics without digging deep and finding out the facts for ourselves. With all of the technology that we have at our fingertips today, it’s much easier to do our homework. We just have to take the time to do it. Take an interest. Engage.

At the minimum, take an interest in the things that directly affect our daily life. These things can change with where we are in our life and the lens that we look through on a daily basis. I want inclusive leaders who value everyone’s rights and human dignity of all and I want to vote for someone who will ensure that. What is important to you? Who do you think will fulfill your dream society? What can you do about it? Are all things perfect? No. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely.

I have made it a goal of mine to be educated and informed as possible and to be engaged in the entire political process. Because I do believe that one vote can make a difference. I believe that we, as Pakistanis need to re-engage in the process and do our homework. It’s not that difficult.

URL: http://kamaalkibaat.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/to-vote-or-not-to-vote-why-is-that-even-a-question-for-pakistani/

The presidential elections are taking place in Pakistan today, another major landmark for democracy after the successful general elections held in may and the peaceful transition of power to the new government.
There has been very hectic lobbying ahead of the presidential elections with Pakistan Muslim league nawaz putting forth the name of Mamnoon hussain and getting backing from around eight smaller political groups, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party (NP), Qaumi Wattan Party (QWP), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z) and Balochistan chapter of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid.
The second candidate Justice (red) Wajihuddin ahmed was put forth by Pakistan Tehreek I Insaf and supported by its ally Jamaat E Islami. While it seems that as per current situation it is Mamnoon hussain that will win, we must realise that for the second time in recent history we are going to have a properly democratically elected president.
While many scoff at the process and call it a sham and make claims of irregularities during elections. We must understand that even despite irregularities and miscounts and re voting in some areas of Pakistan we have to move forward whilst putting the questions being asked to courts of law to decide upon them, as the system instructs us to do.
There are a multitude of issues facing us as a country, from power woes to an economic crunch to an ever increasing burden of the war we are fighting with the taliban. However the only way out of these issues if there is even a way out in the time period given to one government is the nexus of civilian and military leadership of which the president is the figurehead.
As always social media is going to be watching and making sure any of the cracks seamed over by the mainstream are explored to the fullest as they were during the general elections. We now have digitally enabled members of the national assembly from various parties feeding directly into the network as well. In short we are watching the watchers here.
So here is hoping then new president of Pakistan can provide us able leadership and take us forward with positive notes.

The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

During the last year, we have seen immense political presence in Pakistan’s social media. It started with leaders of almost all political parties garnering an online presence to realising how to market a party as an online brand. It has not been an easy ride for these political parties because our politicians tend to be more than a bit clumsy when it comes to technology and the online crowd is pretty harsh towards anything it deems to be even slightly illogical or rude.
However, during the process of forming party lines online and the practice of select groups of trolls lashing out at detractors, a pleasant new phenomenon has taken place. I have been watching this rather closely and have observed that people have moved from talking about parties and discussing them to now holding them completely and ruthlessly accountable for their actions online.
I suppose this transition took place because educated voters realised that this is, perhaps, the best way to speak out in a system, which is hell-bent on silencing their voice. Quite frankly, today, a person in Pakistan has little or no recourse to justice or speaking out if the issue is not bolstered by social media. This is why, one sees more people holding political parties accountable online for every decision they take. This is also bolstered by the fact that finally, at least in the recent elections, most of the startling news content was produced by the citizens themselves, be it in the form of videos showing rigging taking place or status updates on when they voted and in what conditions.
While it is true that many have in the past scoffed at social media on the basis that the number of people online was too insignificant to make a difference, as per information provided by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the number of people using social media in the country is just under 30 million. Analytics companies, which make studies out of cookies that can trace a particular browser session, put this number at around 15 to 20 million. Even this is a huge number for a country like ours. To break this number down further, Facebook has around 8.6 million Pakistanis on it, while Twitter has just over a million users at present. Absolutely accurate figures cannot be given for social media simply because even as I write, more and more people are joining it, so it is a forever increasing figure. Compare this online reach with some of our mainstream print publications’ circulations and even after factoring in fake accounts, one can see an alarming gap of reach, leaning in favour of online media.
So, now that we are able to put out newsworthy content from the palm of our hand and hold our political leaders accountable, the ball lies in the political parties’ court. They can either embrace this tool more fully and form online complaint centres for people to interact with, as well as suggest public works projects to, or they can, as some currently do, ignore it all to their own doom. I say doom because this election was just a slight glimpse into what a social media-enabled generation can do. In five years, people will be using more efficient and perhaps, even securer means of communication. So, in the next election, they might go from just reporting and holding political leaders accountable to changing a candidate’s mandate by the power of their voice should he or she not fulfil their standards.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2013.
The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

The 2013 elections in Pakistan brought to the fore old faces with new promises to change the country’s fate. The days leading to the elections saw a torrent of content being shared over the Internet and social media, with Facebook and Twitter in particular, becoming an online war zone between supporters of various parties. Now that the storm has settled and the parties have taken their seats in the National Assembly, people are looking forward to a better Pakistan as it is time to act and manifest the promises into action.

Over the years, social media has emerged as a Big Brother where all activities of politicians are shared over Facebook and people make comments to make the feedback look interesting, which stirs up a never-ending debate. However, the hype of following political leaders on social media is a trend, which is now declining as people are busy with their jobs and since elections is always a time of change; therefore, social media was abuzz until a few days after June 11.

Nevertheless, social media will continue to play its part as the media, which reveals all truths which print and electronic media hide beneath the pen and the camera. Social media has been monitoring political leaders but the intensity is not as same as before. Still, there are posts shared, comments made, and content liked on Facebook, which means that Pakistanis want social media to compel politicians to follow the decorum and fulfill their promises. Otherwise, one picture or video can stir up a viral humiliation of a politician.

The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

Ever since the world wide web came into being and governments around the world slowly but surely realized the adverse effects of communication on regimes which tend to sweep uncomfortable things under the carpet there have been efforts made to control the flow of information.
The problem however is that information and attempts to block it nowadays is like water hitting porous sand. As the mediums multiply daily and the flow of data becomes quicker and quicker with the gadgets we use spreading like rabbits around our lives it has become hireto impossible to ebb this flow no matter what any one tries. In the midst of all this we have our Pakistani government which although has provisions in its constitution (article 18) to protect electronic commerce but still maintains the need to try again and again to exert control over a medium which is proving to be a pain in its keister.
Is this agony due to the fact that there are bad guys roaming social networks like whatsapp and viber and plotting things that are against national security? I suppose some of it maybe but to think those same tech equipped bad guys would not be able to side step a ban via proxy is somewhat un intelligent to me. Also more dim witted seems the idea that bad guys exist in sindh only and thus this region must be the only one subjected to this proposed ban.
Frankly speaking Pakistan is to me a pretty overheated pressure cooker of emotion since quite some time. One can see it in incidents of road rage when we are pushed slightly in ramzan or around our daily lives as women when we walk down the street to raping stares. Social media seems to be the only place left where it is even slightly safe to engage in healthy discourse over issues which plague most of us at some point or the other in our lives. Taking away this medium would to me have the same effect as removing the steam valve from a pressure cooker. Do we want to know what would happen if our society implodes on itself in a fit of frustrated rage? Things would go out of control…the same control that our government or any government does not want to slip from its hands.
Without control there can exist no leadership, without leadership or law there is only anarchy. We have been teetering at the brink of this anarchy for quite some time now. If I was the government I would be taking all steps possible to de escalate the growing anger Pakistanis feel towards it not push them over the brink by banning their favourite means of communication. Specially in lieu of the fact that the past bans and attempts to block sms, facebook, twitter and youtube have not really resulted in a slew of terrorist arrests and trials.
“Those who give up their essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.” – Benjamin Franklin

The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.

By Abbas Malik

Pakistan is a country where every human being is a political expert. The entire country is extremely politicized. Whether we’re in our villages, homes, on the street, at work, on Facebook or on twitter, we are always discussing politics. This is irrespective of age, occupation or financial status. Keeping this in mind, we can safely conclude that everyone wants the country to progress and prosper in peace.

Pakistan has been in a bad state for years. Governments have come and gone all saying the same thing yet no government did anything to get Pakistan out of the poor state. Prior to elections 2013, the state of the country was so poor that it made the people realize that they had to take a stand and be the change you wish to see in Pakistan. This led to people realizing their role in voting and the power they possessed in making a change happen.

During the elections 2013 there was more focus on in creating awareness about the role of voter. Campaigns were targeted in electronic and social media to get people out of their homes and vote. The youth played a decisive role in voting this time around. According to the stats revealed by the media, more than 60 percent of the people came out to vote compared to the 40 percent in the 2008 elections. This is more than enough to realize that the people of Pakistan were ready to bring about a change and change the course of the country. This should be kept in mind that elections 2013 process was threatened by the extreme groups and blasts at the gathering of political parties was a big threat to general people who were ready to vote. But the turnout was huge. The people were happy almost as if believing that the change they wanted was here. The elections 2013 result was not as people had expected, especially in a city like Karachi but the positive side of the part was that people came to vote.

Now, We already have a new government running in and things don’t seem to be different than they were in the last government. We can only hope that the new government will make its upmost effort to stabilize the country and get rid of diseases like corruption.

Pakistan Zindabad!
The views expressed by this guest blogger and the comments given by any visitor do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the pakvoter.