7 reasons we should care about Senate elections

Here are a few reasons explaining why elections in the Upper House are of importance


Our Correspondent March 05, 2015
PHOTOS: AFP

Pakistan's National Assembly and the legislatures of the four provinces will elect 52 members of the Upper House of Parliament or Senate on Thursday (today).

At present, the largest party in the Senate is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but that may change given that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) may pick up several additional Senate seats, thanks to its dominance in the Punjab Assembly. Here’s why we should care who gets elected:

1. The Senate is a body that was set up with the explicit aim to give the smaller provinces an equal voice and to compensate for the fact that over half the seats of the National Assembly come from one province alone: Punjab. In the Senate, the smallest province in terms of population, Balochistan, has the same number of seats as the most populous, Punjab, and in that sense, it's based on a very egalitarian principle.


PHOTO: EXPRESS

2. While many of us couldn't care less about politics and think that all of those in Parliament are good for nothing and corrupt -- and yes, to a great extent this perception may have a basis in reality -- we do need to take an interest in politics. This is because those who sit in the National Assembly and the Senate make and pass laws that affect all of us and the way we lead our lives. After all, politics is a dirty business, but only because those who are relatively clean shy away from it.



ILLUSTRATION: IMAAN SHEIKH

 

3. Most Pakistanis, while harbouring a clear dislike for politicians and their elected representatives, are still very political. They are interested in discussing politics -- no wonder some of the most watched shows on television all relate to politics -- and have an opinion on the way the country is run. It is precisely because of these related points, especially the last one, which relates to the quality of governance in Pakistan, that we need to care who gets elected to the Senate.


PHOTO: HOMELAND FACEBOOK PAGE

4. In this particular contest, the issue of horse trading has come out in the open (it does whenever there's a Senate election but this time it may have been pushed further into the public spotlight thanks to social media), with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, a favourite of the youth, taking the lead in advocating for legislation that removes voting in the Senate via secret ballot. The argument here is that voting by secret ballot allows senators to vote for a candidate other than the one decided by their party, apparently in exchange for money. Imran Khan has been quite vocal about this of late, but ironically, if one were to go by reports, it is his party's MPAs in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, who are being targeted for horse trading. Imran has said that if it is proven that any of his party's MPAs was bought in this manner, he would not hesitate to dissolve the KP assembly.


PHOTO: REUTERS

5. The composition of the Senate -- with the election of 52 new senators today -- could well affect the direction of policymaking and legislation for the next three years (which is when the next round of Senate elections will be held). This should be important to all of us, especially when one considers that one of the key new policies that the current government has embarked on is a tough line on fighting militancy, post the Peshawar school attack.


PHOTO: AFP

6. We are Pakistanis after all and we love contests -- and to find out who won and who lost. Even the most apolitical ones among us would want to know how many seats the PTI won, how many the PML-N, PPP, or the MQM and so on.


PHOTOS: AGENCIES

7. A smooth election to Parliament -- where the results are accepted by all parties, especially the political opposition -- is a good sign of democracy taking root. This should be important to all of us, notwithstanding the general disdain for democracy found among many Pakistanis.


PHOTO: SUNARA NIZAMI

COMMENTS (7)

Maqsood Ahmed Soomro | 9 years ago | Reply Horse trading is certainly not a new phenomena in Pakistan`s Politics - But what we have witnessed in this senate election as certainly inflicted more ill on the name of politics and elections in Pakistan.
zaman | 9 years ago | Reply "BRING IN THE CLOWNS", THE HORSES HAVE BEEN TRADED BUT THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
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