On July 29, an assurance has been given to the nation by President Asif Ali Zardari while addressing a meeting of PPP workers at the residence of Manzoor Ahmed Wasan in the Khairpur DG Kot area that the polls would be held on time and that these would be fair, free and impartial and this statement is highly appreciated. But this will only be possible if the Election Commission, under the aegis of Chief Election Commissioner Honorable Justice (Retd) Fakharuddin G Ibrahim, keeps a strict check on the activities of the political parties and make sure that they do not cross any boundaries while campaigning and do not use ill-gotten gains to splurge on illegal activities.
It is pertinent to note that, in the past, activists of all political parties used to visit door-to-door in urban areas as well as in the rural areas and used various intimidation tactics to persuade them to vote for their party. While there is nothing wrong with conducting door-to-door publicity campaigns, this practice of intimidation must be curtailed. To curb this wrong practice, it is suggested that there should be a direct hotline phone number of the Election Commissioner on which information regarding use of intimidation tactics by any political party can be reported. If such reports are verified and found to be correct, the concerned political party should be notified and the candidate should be disqualified for participating in the general elections. Similarly, the print and electronic media should also report such practices and should also name the political party whose activists are harassing people in a certain area. The government should also monitor the political parties’ advertising campaigns and make sure that no party is being extravagant and using any unfair means to publicize itself.
The worth of every political party including the ruling party is now very well known to our nation so let the people decide independently which political party they want to vote and wish to rule their country. If this is done then only the forthcoming general elections can be ‘fair, free and impartial’.
