The security situation is certainly the biggest concern. PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS
With no let-up in militant violence in Balochistan, election candidates fear a low turnout on May 11. Some blame the security situation, while others credit the new polling system that will eradicate ‘ghost’ voters.
The security situation is certainly the biggest concern. According to a senior government official, the effects of the weeklong shutter-down call – May 5 to 11 – given by some proscribed militant outfits, will certainly affect the voter turnout.
Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani also anticipated a poor turnout, arguing that one million fake votes have been removed from the electoral rolls, during the screening of the electoral lists.
On the other hand, prominent tribal leader Salim Ahmed Khosa, an independent candidate contesting NA-266 against former premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, cited a different reason for the expected low turnout: the new polling system introduced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has almost eliminated the chances of ‘bogus votes’.
“It is an undeniable fact that bogus votes, in the past, played a key role in the supposedly high turnout,” he added. “My opponents have always depended on bogus votes to win the elections in the past.”
Anwarul Haq Kakar, the young and charismatic PPML-N leader, based in Quetta, agreed with Khosa. He also pointed towards the establishment’s alleged interference in the past elections.
“It is a well-known fact that the use of fake votes has been a key tool of the establishment to get its favourites elected,” he said. “However, this time around, the establishment is detached from the election process in Balochistan. Not a single political party or independent candidate has so far come up with allegations of interference against the establishment … this neutrality will definitely reduce the number of votes on the election day.”
Kakar’s and Khosa’s views were endorsed by former federal minister Amanullah Ghichki and provincial president of the Awami National Party Aurangzeb Kasi.
Elaborating further on this interference, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, contesting against Nawab Aali Bugti for a provincial assembly seat from Kohlu-Dera Bugti, alleged that the Military Intelligence (MI) supported his rival, Mir Tariq Masoori, in 2008.
“However, this time around, the MI is not backing or opposing any candidate in Dera Bugti,” he added.
Interestingly, Sarfraz accused the ECP of favoring his opponent, Nawab Aali Bugti. “Nawab Bugti’s papers were accepted out of the way, after the passage of the scheduled time,” he alleged. “The ECP officials in Quetta refused to provide copies of his nomination papers to me. In this way, I wasn’t even allowed to raise a valid objection.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.
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