Recently held elections in Pakistan saw massive criticism due to various rigging incidents in different constituencies of the country. Observers said that at least 10 percent – or 7,000 – polling stations were reportedly rigged to influence the voters. Bogus votes, pressurizing voters, in-availability of ballot boxes, papers and various other similar problems were reported in different parts of the country.
Experts are of the view that overall elections went well and there is no way of making election 100 percent fool-proof, especially at this magnitude and they are right. To be honest, the influence of political parties on the general people is strong, especially in a city like Karachi, that one belonging to political group only needs to go to a person and demand them to vote in favour of his party. This might not have happened in every area of Karachi but I have witnesses, who have openly said that people of certain party came to their homes and demanded vote, failing to do so they will have to face severe consequences in future.
Social media even now is filled with rigging videos that took place in certain polling stations of the country. Karachi wasn’t the only city affected by it. Cities of Punjab, Baluchistan and KPK also faced the same fate. Now the question that arises is that was the electoral system of Pakistan to be blamed for it? Was the system so weak that it could be manipulated so easily? Well, in my opinion, I wouldn’t blame the system. I think that the election commission of Pakistan did a decent job in making the elections free and fair. Then what went wrong? Well, people of Karachi know exactly what went wrong.
People in this city were aware of the threats that posed to the transparency of the elections. The hunger of power, political party who claims Karachi to be their own property was, in my opinion the main reason of rigged elections in Karachi. Besides that, in Karachi every political party has their own area and they did what they could in their area to get the maximum vote out in favour of their party and they succeeded. These political parties are so powerful and their hold is so strong that the election commission cannot do anything about it.
I blame the political parties for not following the electoral system. There power for hunger is so strong that no ethic or social value means anything to them and they will do everything in their power to win. And that is what they did. One thing that needs to be applauded here is the turnout of voters on the day of elections. Despite of the threats and the targeted bombings on campaigns of political parties prior to elections, the turnout was massive. According survey, the turnout ration was 60 to 65 percent compared to the 40 percent in 2008 elections.
The only positive thing that I can take out from these elections is the motivation of people to vote and use their right. The print and electronic media played its part. The role of social media in creating awareness about the elections, and campaigns like Pak Voter, have done an excellent job in spreading the word and getting people out of their homes to vote. The ratio might be low, but at least, this nation is awaking.
Way to go Pakistan!

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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

The people bear the biggest responsibility in the democratic system. As defined by the Lincoln, “Democracy is the rule of people by the people for the people.” Therefore, people are the fundamental ingredient that makes up true democracy and any democratic system without effective and intelligent involvement of people would eventually fail.
Unfortunately, as we, Pakistanis are great neglector of our duties and responsibilities as a voter to select parliamentarians and keep check and balance once they enter into the parliament of Pakistan. So, are we aware of our obligations to safeguard and nurture democracy in our country? Are we aware of our role in the electoral process in Pakistan and are we aware of our strength and powers when it comes to democratic system in Pakistan? Or are we just like another Pakistanis who blame politicians for all that’s happening in the country- while sitting at the comfort of our home or reading newspaper at our coffee table. One thing that all of us got to understand is that until and unless we are aware of our obligations and powers in democratic system, there can’t be any change in current political system of the country. It is only when the people of this country realize to take things in their hands and to keep a strict check and balance over elected parliament of Pakistan then this system will deliver.
Your role as a citizen in democratic system is not just to vote smartly, but it is also to keep close look at the national policies being implemented by the parliament and raise your voice in favor or against any government policy that you thing will eventually hurt national cause. You have to understand that abusing and blaming politicians for their ill-thought policies will not make any difference until people will make themselves heard at every level of democratic system.
A mere survey on streets of any city will reveal that majority of our people are totally uninformed when it comes to their duties and obligations in electoral process in Pakistan. The lack of civic education in Pakistan has left the nation on command of political elites who often are involved in misappropriation, misconduct, and corruption. The major responsibility of all this mess has to be bear by the nation including you. You also have to understand that a democratic system could never prevail until you are wise enough to use your voting right smartly. You have to understand that their single thumb impression has more to do with the progress of country than any other thing.
If you can read the blog it means that, you are among the few in country that we can be called as well educated and informed enough to educate people that voting for the sake of voting is not just good enough to ensure right people enter the National Assembly and Senate of the country. The only true mean to make people realize their duties and obligations in electoral process in Pakistan is by providing them civic education in Pakistan and by making them understand the political & electoral history of Pakistan.
Moreover, you have to make people understand that they have to keep a constant oversight over government policies after completion of electoral process. Pressure groups need to keep consistent pressure on government to act rationally and to concentrate on fundamental evils of the society. We all including you and me, need to raise our voices when we see any injustice from government and need to educate people around us to raise their voices as well. A truly mobile and educated nation will certainly raise a corruption free, honest, and dedicated government that can change the course of history of the country. Until then, it is time to play our part as a responsible member of this country.

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.

We live in a world where each one of us is bombarded with at least a few hundred messages every day. Switch on the television or flip open a newspaper and there’s one brand or the other selling everything from shampoo to happiness! Out in the streets gigantic hoardings insist why we should try a specific restaurant or a new, improved brand of tea. For those of us who have pre-paid cellular connections know too well the menace of a constantly beeping cell phone owing to “mobile advertisements”. Then of course there is the social media where in addition to the paid advertisements the status updates, tweets and even memes have become a way to disseminate messages aimed either at promoting products and services or inspiring some sort of behavioral change.

Why are we ranting on about the constant flow of messages and media? Glad you asked! In today’s blog we will discuss the many ways and means that media shapes our world view especially vis-à-vis elections – and why it has taken centre stage in the last couple of decades as an important source for educating voters.

Let’s first try to understand why a free and fair media is considered essential for free and fair elections. To cut a rather long dissertation short let’s put it this way: a free and fair election is not only about the freedom to vote and the knowledge of how to cast a vote, but also essentially about processes where voters engage in public debate and have adequate information about parties, policies, candidates and the election process itself in order to make informed choices. It is for this reason that the media is today considered a key actor to democratic elections, which on one hand provides eligible voters with information to make independent choices and on the other hand safeguards the transparency of the electoral process. Thus, a democratic election with no media freedom would make it very difficult to ascertain just how free and fair an election actually was.

Well, as Spiderman says, “With great power comes great responsibility” – thus it’s important to understand that media’s engagement in voter education as well as elections is not a one way road where media agencies only have to gather and provide a bunch of facts. In order to fulfill their roles, the media needs to maintain a high level of professionalism, accuracy and impartiality in their coverage. Regulatory frameworks, such as Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (PEMRA) can help ensure high standards. Such laws and regulations ensure freedom of information and expression while at the same time providing a code of ethics under which media outlets must operate.

The whole discussion about media ethics and regulatory authorities brings us to an important and emerging form of media, i.e. online journalism and social media. Citizen journalism is widely gaining popularity as it has provided average people with the power to share and disseminate information. In the 2013 general elections held in Pakistan we saw how images ranging from huge voter turnout to that of electoral rigging were picked up by conventional media only after they became viral on social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, since social media is still an emerging phenomenon a lot of information floating around on the internet cannot be verified. It is for this reason that conventional media must be careful before reporting anything taken from social media sources. This is especially important because a prime responsibility of media is to provide the voters with full and accurate information.

Media’s role in voter education is not merely restricted to providing information to potential voters but it also serves as a platform for interaction between the political parties as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the public.

The Election Commission has a need to communicate information to the people and within general public to specific groups including the political parties, candidates, women, youth and minorities. Media then serves as an important tool for the ECP to reach out to its target audiences. Thus, both during the campaign phase and on the day of the elections itself, (much like the makers of shampoos and tea brands), the ECP uses media in a variety of ways to get its various messages through.

On the other hand the media too has a great deal of interest in the ECP. The media is interested in the information that the Election Commission has to provide and at the same time will try to scrutinize the ECP’s performance, efficiency and integrity of the elections.

The same formula also applies on the relationship between the media and various contesting political parties and candidates.

This two-way relationship collectively helps to keep the voters informed, engaged and encouraged to take part in the elections and safeguard against interference or corruption in the management or conduct of the electoral process.

In our previous blogs we’ve spoken about a whole host of topics realted to elections and the voting process. In today’s blog however, we’ll take a break from these subjects and instead talk about two related concepts: youth bulge and democracy.
Let’s first start by understanding what the term “youth bulge” means. The youth bulge is a usual phenomenon in many growing nations, and in particular, in the least developed countries. To explain it in simple words, youth bulge refers to a point in a country’s history where the population of young people (i.e. 24 years or below) stands in majority. Thus, a country that is experiencing a youth bulge will typically have a large share of the population comprising of children and young adults.
Is this good news or bad news? Well, depending on how a country plans – or does not plan – to utilize the high levels of energy associated with young people is what ultimately decides whether a youth budlge should be read as a good or a bad news.
Let’s put it this way: imagine yourself in a room full of children. Now we all know that most children all over the world have three important charectaristics, i.e. they have a lot of energy, are curious and are more suseptable to learning new things. Thus, if we plan a day of interesting activities for these children, their energy can be diverted towards engaging in those tasks and their curiosity will be directed towards learning productive things all day. However, if we just leave them unattended for even a few hours the room is likely to paint a picture of absolute chaos!
This same example is relevant when we discuss a youth bulge, i.e. unless proper planning goes into deciding the best possible ways to nurture the energy and learning tangent of young people, this same youth can drive a country into conflict and civil strife.
Recent empirical studies suggest that youth bulges are associated with an increased risk of violence. However, historical examples of the Asian Tiger states also show that a country can reduce this risk through the provision of opportunities for young people, primarily by providing education. The level of secondary education especially appears to have a clearly pacifying effect on large youth bulges.
While expanding opportunities for education generally pacify youth, however it is equally important to ensure that with expanding opportunities for education, the prospect of employment opportunities also needs to be expanded or otherwise the unemployed youth will become a reason for instability creating a law and order situation.
Now what does all this discussion have to do with democracy? The answer is rather simple! Countries that have both youth bulges and unstable political regimes are likely to enter into long-term conflict as political instability will not allow for policies and planning to effectively utilize the potential of the young population and in the absence of such planning the alienated youth is likely to take justice into its own hands. Most African states are evidence of this hypothesis.
On the other hand, sustainable democracy allows the sitting government to make long-term plans for development that will inevitably take into account such indicators as health, education and livelihood – all of which will then contribute towards harnessing the energies of its young people.
Also, unlike other systems of governance such as monarchy or dictatorship, elections are held every few years in a democratic state, thus maintaining a constant pressure on the sitting government to offer its citizens a better standard of living or face the risk of being voted out. This pressure ensures that governments do not become lazy or take their powers for granted.
Accordingly, a democratic government ensures that development initiatives remain a priority to garner the goodwill of the masses. This in turn ensures that huge projects associated with better education, health and employment generation are constantly being introduced thus ensuring that on one hand the young people are kept engaged through education and on the other hand they become contributers towards development once they grow older.
Former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, summarized this whole phenomenon perfectly when he said, “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.”

After discussing so many different topics related to democracy and the electoral process, in today’s blog we’ll talk about the system of governance currently in place in Pakistan. But before we launch into the whole discussion, here’s a warning: today’s blog will be just a tad bit academic! What’s that we hear? Boring, you said? No, no, we won’t get boring just a little a-c-a-d-e-m-i-c! Bear with us just a for a few minutes of reading and we promise that you won’t be disappointed!
Now without further ado let’s try to understand how the government functions in Pakistan and what processes are followed to keep the system streamlined. The first and most important piece of information that we need to know is that Pakistan follows a system of governance commonly known as “Parliamentary Democracy”. Simply put, a parliamentary system is one in which the executive branch (i.e. in the case of Pakistan its Prime Minister who holds maximum power in the decision making process) derives its legitimacy from, and is held accountable to, the legislature (which is known as the Parliament). Still a little confused? Okay, let’s break it down into steps: in a parliamentary form of government the masses elect a group of parliamentarians. Now these parliamentarians can belong to different political parties or can be individuals. Once the entire Parliament is elected, two or more people are nominated from among the parliamentarians to be elected for the Prime Minister’s seat. The parliamentarians caste their votes and select one of the candidates for the most powerful position (or the executive branch) in the government, i.e. the Prime Minister (PM). The PM is thus dependent on the Parliament for being elected and the Parliament holds the PM responsible for his/her performance throughout the 5 years of his/her tenure. The executive and legislative branches are thus, interconnected and have to work closely woth eachother to ensure efficient and effective governance.
Another fact that is important is that the Government of Pakistan is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan. While we will be discussing the concept of “federalism” in greater detail in the coming blogs, just for understanding the federal government is responsible for governing all the four provinces of a the country, which together form the State of Pakistan.
Further, the government itself is composed of three branches: executive (led by the Prime Mnister), legislative (which forms the Parliament), and judicial (headed by the Supreme Court). The Parliament by passing new laws or amending existing laws defines how each of these branches of governance will function.
Here, we also need to understand that Pakistan consists of a bicameral Parliament. In simple terms this means that the Parliament is divided into two branches, i.e. the National Assembly (which forms the lower house) and the Senate (which forms the upper house). For any bill to be made a law, usually it is first passed by the National Assembly and is then sent to the Senate for Approval. It is only when both the houses approve a bill that it is sent for the President’s signature.
President’s signature? Feeling a little confused because the President is only suppose to be a figure head without any real executive powers? Well, while it is true that the President is a ceremonial head, he however does enjoy certain powes. For instance, the President of Pakistan can pass ordinances (laws that have not yet been approved by the Parliament but can stay in force for three months after which they will either expire or can be made laws if approved by the Parliament) and his signatures are required on any laws (that the Parliament has passed) before they can be officially enforced.
Now there are so many more elements to the functing of the Pakistani state, however we hope that this will help give you a basic understanding. Do let us know if this was helpful!

In the previous blogs we’ve spoken about how the government is run at the federal and provincial levels. In today’s blog we’ll go further down and talk about the Local government institutions, known as “local bodies” in Pakistan. Before going forward it is important to understand that while federal and provincial governments manage things more at the top tier level, it is in fact the local bodies that manage the day to day running of any district and then the tehsils and even villages within these districts.

In lay man’s language, local bodies are essential grassroots organizations that perform necessary administrative functions at the municipal level. The primary purpose of such entities is to ensure that power to manage financial and administrative matters is transferred to the district, sub-district and community level. The importance (if not success) of these institutions in Pakistan was so profound that even though two non-party-based elections took place for local bodies since their inception in 2001 under the Musharraf regime – and despite the fact that they became largely defunct after 2008 as the National and provincial assemblies reasserted their political power – these institutions now continue to operate under a bureaucratic methodology, and their ultimate control has been vested in the provincial government as per the 18th Amendment (more on the 18th Amendment in our coming posts!).

Provinces like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab chose to reinstate the “commissionerate” system – i.e. a system where a bureaucratic appointee of the government is responsible for the affairs of a district – rather than keep the democratic nature of the local bodies system alive, and hold elections to the post(s) of Nazims (mayors) for various districts.

Despite the fact that local bodies have continued to function as non-representative and centrally controlled bureaucratic entities (instead of evolving into the kind of organizations that would suit the effective administration of each district), the offices and powers of the district Nazim have been re-invested into that of the commissioner or deputy/assistant commissioner (depending on size and population of district) who now administer and control the various departments created under the 2001 local government system: with separate, district-level institutions for revenue collection, law and order, health, education, development, civil defence, etc. By forcing representative officers of local bodies to become dysfunctional during and after 2008, and by installing bureaucratic officers to district-level mayoral posts instead of holding representative elections according to the right of democratic franchise, the post-2008 democratic setup in Pakistan – especially the political parties who vowed to restore real democracy to Pakistan and rid it of dictatorship – eventually ended up combining the new local bodies with the age-old, arbitrary and unrepresentative “commissionerate” system, thereby asserting centralized control over the districts from the national (and after 2010, when the 18th Amendment was promulgated, provincial) bases of government and administration.

In the last few years there has been a growing demand by the masses to re-introduce the election based local government system in which citizens will hold the power to elect their representatives to run the affairs at the local level. The Supreme Court of Pakistan in a judgement has also called upon the government to make the local government system democratic to ensure that democracy takes roots at the community level.

Pakistan, as you well know is a Parliamentary democracy with a federal government and four provincial legislatures. In other words, there’s a federal government at the center (i.e. Islamabad) that takes care of national affairs on the whole and then there are four provincial governments that are entrusted with the welfare of the provinces. Have you ever thought why we don’t have Presidential system of governance or any other form and why this particular model was adopted to govern Pakistan? Well, in today’s blog we will discuss precisely that and specifically talk about why “federalism” is important for the country.

Let’s first establish a definition for “federalism”. Simply – but rather academically – put, “federalism refers to a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (such as states or provinces). Need for further elaboration there? No? Great, let’s move on then!

Before talking about why federalism is important for Pakistan, let’s first take a little walk down memory lane and trace its history. Pakistan gained the status of an independent country in 1947, however it took us nine years after independence to present the first institution in the Constituent Assembly. In 1954 the assembly was dissolved by the Governor General without any constitutional mandate leading to instability in the political arrangement. The constitutions of 1956 and 1962 were abrogated (i.e. in other words “scrapped”!). in all honesty, the 1962 version of the constitution deserved abrogation because it broke the democratic rules of one-man, one-voter turnout as well as adult franchise and developed a flawed federal structure under which the concept of provinces was finished and the entire country fell under the “One Unit” system! Needless to say, the over centralization of the Pakistani federation resulted in the largest province seceding from the federation. Later, sanity prevailed and the Provinces were revived and One Unit was abolished, however provinces were denied their political, economic and cultural rights resulting in distrust between the federation and the provinces on the one hand and amongst the provinces on the other.

It was in this backdrop that the 1973 Constitution came into existence with consensus amongst all political forces within parliament and the provinces. The constitution promised a federal parliamentary system with provincial autonomy in which fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary would be ensured. Unfortunately the Constitution of 1973 was not implemented in letter and spirit and military dictatorships led to further centralization.

Thankfully, this imbalance in the federal structure was corrected through the eighteenth constitutional amendment in 2010. Pakistan is now a participatory federation with joint ownership of natural resources. It is quite a paradox that with the exception of the Constitution of 1962, all constitutional arrangements including the Government of India Act, 1935, Constitution of 1956 and the Constitution of 1973 are essentially federal in character though in practice a centralized form of government prevailed in the country. Repeated derailment of the democratic and constitutional process heightened tensions on issues of economic management, provincial autonomy and discretionary powers, particularly those vested in the office of the President of Pakistan. The Eighteenth Amendment has tried to address these issues keeping in view Pakistan’s historical context, its polity and its objective conditions. In other words the Eighteenth Amendment, throws up a Pakistani federalism that learns from the experiences of others but is rooted in the Pakistani reality. The Amendment provides ownership and participation in policy and management of natural resources, increased the legislative powers of the provincial assemblies including those on taxation. In termination, civil society organizations, journalists, politicos and other interest groups have a part to play in managing differences and creating a home grown federalism that is rooted in local polity and ensures unity in variety.

In a nutshell, it took Pakistan 67 years to devise the near perfect formula for federalism but now that it’s finally in place, it is the responsibility of each and every citizen to ensure that it prevails.

Vote by strict definition means a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates or courses of action, expressed typically through a ballot or a show of hands. It is also termed as a choice expressed collectively by a body of electors, a specified group or an individual. In political terms, it is the right to register a choice in an election to a political office in any tier of government. Derived from the Latin word votum meaning ‘a vow or wish’, in political terms it has transformed its meaning to express one’s desire to support an individual, group or party to carry out an agenda(s) or policy(ies) which an individual voter considers appropriate for the welfare of a certain group, community or a nation. In the modern day political systems, where democracy is the most accepted and established international political standard of governance, voting is the preamble or basic foundation for edifice of such a system. Therefore, in order to have strong and effective democratic system, it must be built on strong and transparent foundations, the credibility of which is not questionable. For this to happen, an independent, free and transparent voting is the only option to ensure a strong foundation for democracy in any system. In Pakistan as well, when we urge the citizens to vote in an electoral process, the objective is to make them a part of the decision making process for the future policies to be implemented by their representatives for whom they have voted for. To realize this objective, the foremost priority is to make the citizens confident about utility of such an exercise. In other words, the voters should have faith in transparency of the exercise as well as equal opportunity for all those who participate in this exercise to get elected so that voter has a variety of choice among the candidate to be voted upon. Now two basic questions arise in such a situation particularly in case of Pakistan. First, whether the citizens have confidence in transparency of voting system so that they are sure that their voting has not been tampered with. Second, whether the voters have enough of variety of candidates to vote for a candidate he considers closest to his ideals to translate the policies as he desires appropriate for the country. Though in some sections of the society, there is a general feeling of alienation with the electoral system and unfortunately it also includes the educated and urban elite, it generates an extremely unwanted reaction by this section in the form of reluctance to vote. There is a strong opinion that those who resort to this abdicating posture are the ones who are otherwise supposed to be most active to mobilize the voters as they are likely to be the future leaders of country. Resultantly, this absence of the educated and politically aware voter from electoral arena in fact gives strength to electoral block of voters who vote on ethnic, linguistic, sectarian and tribal lines. Therefore, those having a broader understanding of the national issues and policies themselves leave the field open for the ones having little understanding of the same by leaving the field open for them. In a society divided on ethnic, sectarian, linguistic and tribal lines, any priority for vote on these lines in fact results in the election of public representatives having the same priorities as well as interests which are translated into the larger policy making of country in the form of physical and legislative development resulting in further polarization of society at the national level. Consequently what we see is that a certain group of individuals who are shortsighted with narrow thinking of just their own or their group’s interests, ultimately prevail over long term national policy formulation with patronization of the individuals having same ideas and thoughts just because they were not confronted by the votes of those who have an understanding to give a policy direction to the country. But why this happens. How can the educated elite be made to realize that by not participating in the electoral exercise, they are in fact facilitating those whom they otherwise criticize for taking wrong decisions and making the country move astray from the desired goals. In fact the trend of criticizing the government policies and decisions by just talking in drawing rooms and discussion forums and not coming out on the voting day is sign of an aversion to speak through their elected representatives. This is akin to a perpetual crime against the future generations by making democracy to fail as they say that to make democracy work; we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers as the one who does not vote has no right to complain.

“Each Provincial Government shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibilities and authority to the elected representatives of the local government”, says article 140-A of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has been almost four years since people in three provinces of Pakistan have remained deprived of their representative local governments, one Baluchistan, had LG elections in 2013. Inclusive and participatory government is privy to the definition of democracy and this can only be achieved when people are made part of the decision making process. Pakistan has seen four local government systems, three of them introduced by the dictators who wanted to get their legitimacy by reaching to the masses through local governments. The most visible and eventful, if not successful, was the system of local government introduced by Musharaf regime in 2001. This system was later defunct after the 2008 elections when democratic forces took over and the dictator was forced to resign. Elections in 2008 brought a new era of democratic rule in Pakistan that raised hope of the people for more share in the government but these hopes met with severe setback when the democratic forces failed to install a local government system even after completing a full tenure in office. All the political parties promised local governments in run for elections in 2013 but again it proves to be a long way to go. Establishment of local governments is the responsibility of the provincial governments who have not yet been able to act upon this constitutional injunction in three provinces. Though all the provinces have come up with legislation on local government but elections are yet to be held. There can be no second word on importance of local government, it brings governance to the door step of the people, makes them part of the governance process and includes their wishes in the local decision making. Local governments give ownership of the local resource to the people while making them responsible to resolve their indigenous problems locally. Hence local government empowers people with the resources as well as ability to use these resources for their collective good. The case for local governments becomes stronger when article 140-A comes forth for its endorsement. The incumbent provincial governments of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have not only failed to establish democracy in its true form but it also implies that constitution has not been upheld. If Pakistan has to emerge as a democratic state it must strengthen democracy by implementing the constitutional injunctions and establishing local governments at local governments in all provinces.