Media, plural of Medium, is a Latin word which literally means an intervening agency, means or instrument used to store and deliver information or data. In general, it is termed as a means of general communication, information or entertainment covering multiple modes such as press, photography, advertising, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television) and publishing. The term Media was first applied to newspapers about two centuries ago and since then it has also obtained a political connotation covering all mediums used to communicate political information to cross section of people that reaches and influences them as well. Initially covering newspapers and magazines only as print media, it... more

Pakistan is democratic country that has witnessed intermittent elections due to repeated military takeovers. Due to this, the continuity of political processes, democratic development and institutional building in the country remained a dream. In 2013, country experienced the smooth transfer of power from one democratic regime to another because of hence to supposedly transparent, free, and fair General Elections 2013. Nevertheless, currently Pakistan is witnessing political crisis owing to alleged rigging in May 2013 General Elections invoked by some opposition political parties. The accusations and counter accusations have to be judged by the competent commission. However, the alleged or... more

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... more

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom-Thomas Jefferson When addressing House of Commons on November 11, 1947, Winston Churchill said that Democracy was the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that had been tried from time to time, he might have in his mind the opportunities of accountability of the rulers that the democracy provides in greater number in comparison with any other form of government. Since democracy is defined as ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people’, it can be said that a citizen plays a pivotal role in the success or otherwise of the democratic system of government in terms of putting the resources to judicious use for... more

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... more

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”.... more

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... more

An elected representative is an individual voted for by the public to represent their interests. It can also be termed as a person chosen or appointed to act or speak for someone who has authorized him to do so by putting his trust in him through a legally defined process. In political terms, elected representatives are individuals authorized by a certain group of people through a vote to act, speak, legislate and execute certain policies on their behalf in a legislative and executive capacity to pursue a predefined political agenda on the basis of which they were elected by the people. In a modern day democracy, the public representatives elected by the people are generally allied with a... more

Abraham Lincoln best defined the notion of democracy as: “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”. This represents the inclusiveness of democracy that is reflective of the wishes of the masses i.e. the general public or Awam. In today’s blog we will try to analyze the role of general public in fostering democracy at the grass root level. It is ultimately the public, who is in the position to hold their representatives accountable. However, for this accountability the active participation of the citizens is imperative. Unfortunately in developing countries such as Pakistan the electoral candidates are chosen often on the pretext of how much... more

During the 2013 polls, I was among the thousands of Pakistanis who had resolved to vote for the first time. However, the biggest dilemma that I faced was to understand the process of voter registration. Nevertheless, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) prior to the polls had introduced a number of voter-friendly initiatives that made the task of registration easy and efficient. The most important step in this regard is to know your voter status. This can be done by simply texting your Competarized National Identity Card (CNIC) number without dashes to 8300. If your vote is already registered, by doing so, you will soon receive a reply with your CNIC Number, Electoral Area, i.e.... more

Irrespective of the language, culture or social norms of a specific region, there are certain integral values that remain unchanged across borders and divides. For instance, nowhere in the world have we ever seen masses demanding widespread anarchy and disorder; on the contrary, world over people want a functional system of governance to maintain rule of law in the society. Accordingly, it seems safe to assume that to see order and stability in the society is something that is inherent to all human beings. It is this integral need that propels us all to rally behind political leaders, cheer for them during processions and vote for them during elections – all the time hoping that the... more

We Pakistanis are always discussing two things; cricket and politics. If any of us does not discuss these topics at least once every two days, I start doubting their nationality. So, following and propagating the Pakistani culture, we friends were having a heated debate on the current political situation in the country. And of course, following another national tradition, we were criticizing the class of rulers we elect by casting our votes. We started discussing the individuals we had voted or not voted for in our respective constituencies. We dissected their rise in politics to their family backgrounds, their statements, so on and so forth. And our heated debate of “one up man ship”... more

In 2000, a new citizen registration system was introduced in Pakistan. The new process was handled by a new authority named NADRA. This came as a breath of fresh air, modernization of the most basic of needs of any citizen: their National Identity Card. Our old system was severely outdated, with no readable or computerized biometric record and I am not sure even if it was centralized. The new system, no doubt, sorted a lot of data maintenance issues. But, as one of the most civilly “responsible” nation that we are, I am sure we still have citizens out there who have yet to get their new ID cards. Although, all of our legal documentation requires the NADRA ids, but still. The process... more

For most voters the idea of voting is merely restricted to three primary items: a polling station, a ballot paper and a ballot box. This is especially true for first time voters, whose excitement to caste their vote is often more pronounced than their understanding of the many steps that ought to be considered before and after entering the inside of a polling station. Much like most first-time voters, my first experience of casting my vote (which should have ideally taken under half an hour) became a three hour ordeal! This happened simply because I had convinced myself that knowing the election symbol of my candidate was all there was to voting – and boy was I wrong! To help voters in... more

When we think about voter education, most people assume that it is only the responsibility of Election Commission or the government to introduce activities aimed at making voters aware of their rights and responsibilities. Well, think again – because there’s so much at an individual like you and I can do to promote voter education! In this blog we’ll discuss the many ways and means through which each of us can contribute to community voter awareness raising activities. There are a miscellany of actions that provide information on election procedures to both current and future voters. Most of them will take position outside the premises of District Election Commission offices. By... more