Pakistan through the eyes of an Arab

Some weeks ago I arrived in Islamabad with the aim of sitting for the B2 French exam in Lahore. I ended up extending my stay in the country by a week. It was difficult to move with my family to Qatar sometime back after having lived in Pakistan for most of my life, yet it took me no time to feel the warmth of being back home once I took my first step off of the aircraft.

It was a stroke of good luck that my stay here was extended because I got the opportunity to vote in the local government (LG) elections in Islamabad that were held for the first time. It felt like Eid in that people seemed to be in a festive mood on election day, the roadsides were dotted by posters of candidates and banners of political parties with the odd miniature tiger and cricket bat also apparent.

Some voters wore head-bands or topis of the parties they supported. Others reflected their party of choice by the colour of their dress. Stalls of each of the independent candidates and the participating political parties dotted the area around the polling stations and everyone was dressed up as if it was a national festival. Perhaps it was. My phone didn’t stop beeping the night before polling day, with messages and calls from parties campaigning for their respective candidates.

On polling day itself, one could see that those who had voted for the same party exchanged looks of satisfaction and pride at the polling stations, even though they were meeting each other for the first time. And the fact that most people showing up to vote were young, drew wide smiles on the faces of everyone present at the polling station. It did not matter who won. What was significant was the patriotic spirit that was on display in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I might need hours to explain all the emotions and describe these happenings to my fellow Arabs, because in our region, a majority of the countries never hold free and fair elections. People in these countries do not enjoy the freedom of a multiparty system and do not understand what it means to vote and participate in elections — be it a country where a self-proclaimed secular president rules or a self-described religious one. In the Arab world, we are used to seeing results like the 98 per cent vote for Syria’s Hafez al-Assad, or his heir’s recent 88.7 per cent vote, not to mention the 81 per cent votes of Algeria’s Bouteflika and, of course the 96.91 sky-scraper-high-percentage of Egypt’s Al Sisi. We don’t vote in the Arab world, we just wait for fixed results to be announced and fake festivals to celebrate victories achieved in uncontested elections.



What my fellow Arabs might find surprising is that it was the police that guided me to the polling station that I was supposed to vote in. The kindness they showed is worth mentioning. It is difficult to absorb the idea of a helpful police as an Arab. This is not to say that all Arab or Middle Eastern countries suffer from a lack of a public-friendly police. There are some countries, like Jordan, Tunisia and majority of the Gulf countries where the police do serve their people.

I consider myself lucky to be a Pakistani of Arab origin and that I had the right to vote in the LG polls and therefore had a say in the political process. The fact that my opinion, my vote and my choice mattered in my country gives me confidence and boosts my patriotism. I mourn the situation in the Arab world today, where at least 10 countries are in turmoil. The situation in Pakistan may not be ideal, but the country definitely has the makings of a pluralistic political system.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2015.

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