Public opinion about the local body elections
Tall claims about electoral integrity and administrative efficiency have remained just that – claims. Elections at the grass root level remain the bedrock of democracy in theory. But how effective they were and how successful the concerned institutions were in delivering the promised is a question many would shy away from.
Anyway, one phase of the election is over, and it is important to scrutinise the completed stages in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the coming ones. Collecting diverse public opinion is imperative in this regard. For this purpose, DNA collected feedback of people from various walks of life – those who were busy campaigning for this election, those with educational backgrounds in diverse disciplines, and ex-politicians themselves.
An interesting mix of responses emerged consequently, with certain commonalities but differences all along.
So how important are these elections?
Looking at Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy, it becomes clear that democracy revolves around the common man as it is of, by and for the people. Therefore, in order to assess any institution or procedure, we need to first scrutinise how important such a mechanism is in serving the common man.
Khizra Raza, a political science graduate based in Lahore, considers these elections very, very important.
“This is the true democracy,” she said while talking to DNA.
“I, being a political science graduate, fully understand the importance of devolution to the grass root level, in theory and in practice. These local body elections are a huge opportunity if utilised the right way, and I do hope that one day Pakistanis will fully realise this. Your provincial and national governments cannot reach every nook and corner. That is where the local governments come in.”
This makes sense, but does this resonate with other strata of society as well? Or is it just political theory at best. This is an important question and someone who has had some experience of the political system itself can answer this it better.
Naseem Nasir Khawaja, an ex-MPA based in Sialkot, thinks in the same way.
“It is hard for the common man to approach the MNAs and MPAs,” she said.
“But one can easily approach the councillors. Therefore these local body elections are important to keep checks and balances on the system.”
It is evident that those who have been exposed to politics in theory or in practice do not deny the importance of devolution of power
She considers it unfortunate that such a long gap occurred between these local body elections, however, these elections being conducted even now present something to the masses.
“These elections are being conducted in Pakistan after 10 years,” she went on. “Such a long gap is unfortunate. Ignoring the grass root level makes your democracy suffer.”
Therefore, it is evident that those who have been exposed to politics in theory or in practice do not deny the importance of devolution of power. For countries to progress, it is imperative that the chosen ones have the accessibility to connect to the masses at the grass root level.
What these elections are like
Elections in Pakistan are a sight worth seeing. No load-shedding, the political passion, the lavish campaigning and the public involvement are some of the salient features. However, general elections and the local body lections differ in various aspects.
Umar Asif is a resident of Faisalabad and has been very active in campaigning for this recent episode. He recalls his experience of the local body elections.
“These elections were even more exciting than the general elections!” He commented.
Not only is one using his voting power, but is also hopeful that the people who would be elected are ones who are reliable and accessible at the same time, as Umar too points out.
“The reason is that you can connect with the candidates on a personal level, and can access them,” he added.
“Moreover most of the candidates that are there are already familiar to you. You already know them. So this is exciting, as there is more hope of them tending to your legitimate concerns once they are elected.”
The political fervour is evident, and not just the candidates but the supporters also take it as a do or die situation. Khawaja Nasir Majeed, who has served as a Naib Nazim in the past, explains this fact.
“These elections are contested on the streets and the corners,” he talked about the phenomenal political involvement.
“People are even more bothered than the general elections. They expect that these familiar candidates will contribute more to their improvement. And during the course, enmities do raise between competitors. Even the common man is more concerned about the results of his own candidate.”
So, yes, these elections are a totally different ball game, not just in terms of the span of control, but also with respect to the sentimental involvement of the masses. In the local body election, you get to see such people on the pamphlet that you have been seeing for many years. Your attachment and loyalties are hence enhanced manifold.
According to Nasir, many prominent people start their political careers with local body lections and move to upper levels later. So these elections serve as a ladder to the general election.
“It is very important to have representatives of the people from the grass root level to ensure democracy. Even people like Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and former PM Gillani first got seats at the local government level. So these are the schools and the nurseries on which democracy is based.”
However, these elections have less to do with the party and more to do with the individual.
“The general elections have more involvement of party,” Nasir explained. “That is not the case in local body elections. These are based merely 20 percent on the party and 80 percent on the individual, his bradari, his behaviour and his reputation. You can see the results of the recent elections. Independent candidates won a lot of seats, almost the same as PNL-N.”
So bradaries are a major factor. While this is not ideal, it remains a fact.
“Party is largely irrelevant in local body elections,” Umar said.
“It is based more on the person and as well on bradari in many cases. So passing judgment on parties themselves is not a wise thing. Many independent candidates bagged their seats. So these elections were not really in the domain of PPP, PML-N or PTI. So this debate is irrelevant.”
Khizra, however, disagrees.
“Many would differ, but I think parties still matter, since manifestos come from the parties. Political parties might be less relevant than they are in the general election but they still do matter.”
And then there is this crazy celebration of the winners. Anum Bint Sagheer, an economics graduate, finds this sort of celebration uncanny and unreasonable.
“What is the motto of this celebration?” She asked.
“Are they celebrating the chance to serve the people? Or the chance to get their share from the taxes? Or are the celebrating the attainment of power? Or maybe they have won the football world cup of Pakistan.”
Not many people have the answer to Anum’s question. However one thing is sure. Winning an election is more glorious than winning the football world cup if you ask a seasoned Pakistani.
The rigging saga and the future of PTI
So it continues. Every election in Pakistan is rigged. This is one of our basic testaments that we cannot deny. However, how real is this rigging? Let us see what different stakeholders think.
“Attributing your defeat to rigging is plain rubbish,” Naseem simply said.
“There might be rigging, but on a very high level. Of course these elections on streets are free from it. And there are back-ups to avoid rigging. There is government staff in polling stations. You have your own team there as well. So elections are fair by and large.”
Moreover, she thinks it is not a big deal to predict how many votes you will bag. So crying wolf is irrelevant.
“I know from experience that you can easily tell if the voter is casting a vote for you,” she said.
“Your voters look confidently into your eyes on the day of the election, and those who do not vote for you simply shy away.”
However Umar has been very active in the recent election and of course rigging cannot be denied.
“Well rigging was there, but you cannot blame it on one party, like it has been done in Pakistan recently,” he commented. “Different parties were involved in different union councils. Since my family was buys supporting and campaigning for various candidates in different union councils, belonging to different parties sometimes, there was evident rigging and forced vote casting. But every political party did it in different union councils.”
Anum, too, thinks that rigging is something inevitable in Pakistan.
“Rigging did persist seemingly,” she said. “ECP claimed that the returning officers were illiterate and could not handle things properly. The procedure was not followed despite spending so much on the process.”
PTI, the party that has always been very vocal about irregularities, could not bag a substantial share of seats.
Naseem thinks PTI asked for it.
“PTI has a non-serious attitude,” she asserted. “Running the government is not child’s play. Imran Khan’s biggest weakness is his lack of tolerance. His word cannot be the final word, he needs to realise that. Politics requires patience and compromise.”
Khizra also thinks that PTI has lost all its wickets.
“To me, PTI is not a national party now,” she stated.
“It cannot claim any territory to be its own. Even KP is doubtful this time. They need to realise this fact and pull up their socks.”
However, considering the populism and the charisma that PTI entails maybe it is too early to declare it null.
“Of course, PTI is a national party, there is no denying it,” Umar sounded confident. “The verdict cannot be based on local elections; PTI still has a lot of support.”
Anum agrees with this fact.
“PTI is still there of course, you cannot nullify it just because of local body elections,” she pointed out. “There still are supporters of Imran Khan from every province.”
During Musharraf’s time, power was thoroughly devolved. So a lot of development was done at the grass root level
Whatever the truth is, it needs to be investigated so that it becomes clear whether the system is fair and transparent or not. PTI talked about stolen mandate over the course of two and a half years, and failed to appear recently. Now is that a local body election factor or is it because PTI is losing its presence? Time will soon give the verdict.
Nothing is perfect
Nothing is perfect, especially elections in Pakistan, and the overall political machinery.
Anum, being an economics student, is clearly aware of how taxing the elections can be for a frail economy like ours.
“The cost of the election itself is huge,” she explained. “And keeping the security situation in mind, it taxes Pakistan‘s economy even more. We have to ensure the security of polling stations as well. Police and even the army are mobilised on sensitive stations. All of this matters. And then if the results or the feedback of the entire process is not satisfactory, and claims go unfulfilled, what is the use of all the toil?”
Elections have never been able to win over the public. But the devolution that is to follow too raises many concerns.
“A major flaw remains that now that only the chairman, vice chairman and the councillors will be elected from every Union Council.,” Nasir pointed out.
“These elected ones will then nominate the women, youth and minority representatives. Earlier this was all done through elections. This is a challenge.”
He further compares Musharraf’s time with the present one when it comes to obstacles to devolution.
“During Musharraf’s time, power was thoroughly devolved. So a lot of development was done at the grass root level,” he stated.
“The current system and the layout do not posit that much scope for development. MNAs and MPAs do not really like the power to be devolved; because in the absence of devolution, all the power and praise is of them.”
Local body elections were held in Pakistan after around 10 years. This is quite a long time, and the champions of democracy had waited patiently for this day, but does patience always bear sweet fruit? It is too early to declare this notion null and void. But one thing is sure – a lot more could be done and should have been done.
