JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: It is regrettable that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not willing to take action to address reports that during the May 11 elections, women were barred from casting their votes in several parts of the country because of religious, tribal or cultural taboos. As per the Free and Fair Election Network’s (FAFEN) report, this type of pre-poll rigging was not only limited to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) but also took place in central Punjab.
The excuse put forward by the ECP is that it cannot intervene unless approached by an aggrieved (read political) party. We all now know what happened in upper and lower Dir, wherein all political and religious parties agreed to prevent women from casting votes. At least, two written agreements concerning two provincial assembly constituencies have surfaced while polling stations data from other constituencies present the same conclusion. How can there be an aggrieved party to lodge a complaint when all parties were part of this unholy agreement to bar women from voting? Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party blames the establishment for manipulating the elections in K-P in favour of right-wing parties. Do we assume that the ECP is also involved in such manipulation as it is refusing to take any action against parties that were involved in barring women from voting?
FAFEN has reported this type of pre-poll rigging in Khanewal, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Kasur, upper and lower Dir, Peshawar, Buner, Kohat and North Waziristan. We are all awaiting action on this matter of national importance.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2013.
