Historically, people in Pakistan are not very much concerned regarding electoral process in Pakistan. We are much more comfortable sitting in calmness of our homes and abusing the political system of our country for not delivering what was expected of them. So, what do you think about the political system? Do you think that the political system of our country has rotten or are you satisfied with the system?
Well, if you are of any sense, you should not be satisfied of the system and would definitely want to change the system. I am not talking about changing the faces but changing the system. However, before you can change the system, you have to change your thought process and start educating yourself and people around you regarding the political system we are currently bearing in this country. When talking about change in thought process of voters, the first and foremost thing that you should understand is that you got to raise yourself above your personal or communal gains and start thinking at national level. Believe it that an immoral person- no matter if he’s even of your family; will eventually create a mess at home and at country level once he has his entry at the parliament of Pakistan. Therefore, you have to understand your responsibility and obligations of choosing the right candidate at this election. Traditionally, political parties in Pakistan are not very considerate of giving their tickets to right candidates and often choose their representative on the basis of his/her financial stability rather than considering the moral character of the candidate. It is therefore impulsive for you to get better understanding of candidates contesting from your area and be watchful as you prepare to vote on the Election Day.
National Assembly and consequent Government of Pakistan is formed through your direct voting. This further aggravates your responsibility as a sensible citizen (are you sensible?) to get better knowhow about contesting candidates. So, this time around while you are preparing for the Election Day, make sure you are completely familiar with the political profiles of candidates and their moral character. There are many ways that can help you better understand the profile of each candidate some of which we will be discussing below.
Media
Media is perhaps the most influential and easy to reach medium that can help you find the figures and character about candidates contesting in your area. Electronic media in Pakistan has seen dramatic growth in last few years and today they are considered as the best source to get familiar with government of Pakistan and its policies on different issues. Similarly, before the Electoral process in Pakistan, media updates complete information regarding each candidate contesting in election countrywide. Lookouts for media debates and watch the list of candidates from each constituency on media websites. Some websites also provides candidates profiles in constituency maps. This will help you figure out not only the political profiles of candidates from your area but also facilitate you in knowing the priorities of candidates.
Election Commission website
Though not as comprehensive as the media outlets, but election commission of Pakistan updates complete list of selected candidates contesting across country. You can easily check out candidates from your constituency from their website and also lookout for their political profiles.
Furthermore there are different government offices that share profiles of political parties in Pakistan and their respective representatives, for instance FBR etc. You can see the details of political figures and judge their moral character which will help you narrow down your list for most suitable candidate.
Neutral Platforms
Though civic education in Pakistan is not up to the level where it should have been, still there are many NGOs and private organizations running awareness campaigns in many areas. You can get complete political profiles of each political party in Pakistan from these private/neutral platforms which will help you in choosing the right candidate in this election.
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.
