No such thing as a secure seat anymore, says Awais Leghari
PML-N MNA shares some strategies candidates employ to ensure victory in elections
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Awais Leghari. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Despite a seemingly secure seat in parliament, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Awais Leghari believes past trends, where feudal influence guaranteed politicians a place in legislature, are rapidly changing.
“People nowadays are becoming more aware of their rights,” he told The Express Tribune in an interesting session. “Secure seats these days don’t remain secure if the lawmakers traditionally elected from those constituencies are unable to deliver to their constituents.”
Hailing from the Leghari clan, which wields immense influence and owns thousands of acres in South Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan district, Awais has what many would many political observers would deem a ‘secure’ seat in NA-172 D G Khan-II constituency.
His father, Sardar Farooq Leghari, was a former president of Pakistan. His grandfather and great grandfather had both served as ministers in the Pakistani government. Following the death of his father, Awais’s brother took over as the 27th chief of the Leghari tribe as well.
According to Awais, however, the value of such credentials in winning elections in what once were secure constituencies has diminished these days.
“Our margins of victory [in elections] are decreasing,” he said referring to lawmakers with huge vote banks in their respective constituencies. “Where once we won with a margin of 80,000 votes, we are now winning elections with 10,000 to 12,000 votes.”
Awais credited the internet and media for bringing about this change.
“Today, a 10-year-old boy can stand up and ask us ‘what have you delivered?’ because of the media and the internet,” he said. “If the water supply scheme does not work in a village in our constituency, we will be bombarded with criticism on social media.”
“People today hold politicians accountable on two points: did we stay in touch with them and did we alleviate their problems,” he added.
Acknowledging its influence and outreach, Awais stressed the media needs to be responsible while remaining strong in order not to steer the country in the wrong direction.
Awais began his career in 1997 with the Millat Party his father formed after parting ways with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He later served as a federal minister for information technology in the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid cabinet after the Millat Party, along with other small faction, merged with it following the 2002 general elections. Awais is proud of that stint, claiming responsibility for bringing about Pakistan’s telecom revolution.
Awais left PML-Q in 2010 when the party joined the PPP-led coalition government. He briefly ‘flirted’ with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in his own words, quitting the party after just a few months.
He contested and won the NA-172 seat as an independent candidate in the 2013 general elections, and later joined the ruling PML-N with his group of two MNAs and four MPAs. As a PML-N lawmaker, he currently chairs the prestigious National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
During his candid talk with The Express Tribune, Awais shared some polling day tricks winning candidates employ.
“The first thing a candidate has to do is to bring voters from their homes to polling stations,” he said. “To win, a candidate needs to have around a thousand motivated followers to tactfully manage polling stations on election day. There are around 250 polling stations for a single National Assembly constituency and a candidate need eight to 10 dedicated workers at each one,” he added
“You have to know by what time your polling agents should be at polling stations. They need to be there at least 30 minutes before polling begins,” the PML-N lawmaker explained.
At the polling station, Awais continued, a polling agent must be aware of whether his candidate’s position is strong or weak.
“If the candidate’s position weakens, a trained agent will slow down the polling process by raising one objection or the other before the presiding officer,” he said. “A hundred votes that aren’t polled means your opponent misses out on a hundred votes.”
Outlining challenges, Awais pointed out that it was not humanly possible for single polling agent to manage a booth for the entire nine hours polling takes place. “Those who know the process, have four or so agents at one polling booth,” he said. “They work in three-hour shifts so they are full of energy throughout the process.”
Awais said the reason PTI was unable to translate its popularity into electoral success was because it could not effectively manage its polling day activities. He attributed PTI lawmaker Jahangir Tareen’s recent victory in by-elections to the community-based organisation set-up he outlined.
“Whatever popularity PTI has, they do not know how to convert it into parliamentary majority. The actual vote bank of a party or candidate is usually 30 to 40 per cent more than the votes polled in their favour,” he said. “To win, you need to skillfully capitalise on this.”
Another failing on PTI’s part, according to Awais, was party chief Imran Khan not quite knowing how to use a vote bank.
“You have an individual vote bank and a party vote bank. In some cases the individual vote bank is 80 per cent and party vote bank is 20 per cent. Sometimes it is vice- versa. You bag a seat through prudent use of this combination. Imran Khan did not have this in the last election,” he said.
He gave the example of ex-minister Chaudhry Nauraiz Shakoor, who wanted to contest elections from Sahiwal. PTI, Awais said, took the ‘nonsense’ decision of forcing Shakoor to field his son in the election. “Shakoor knew how many votes he would get and how many his son would get.”
After working with various parties in 20-year career, Awais has come to believe most political parties in Pakistan, including PTI, are alike. “Mainstream parties draw more criticism, but that is because they have actually been in power,” he said. “A party like PTI hasn’t and so has less negatives on its resume.”
Awais added that for all its claims of being democratic and holding intra-party elections, PTI too was run by the party chief’s ‘kitchen cabinet’, much like any other party.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2016.
Despite a seemingly secure seat in parliament, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Awais Leghari believes past trends, where feudal influence guaranteed politicians a place in legislature, are rapidly changing.
“People nowadays are becoming more aware of their rights,” he told The Express Tribune in an interesting session. “Secure seats these days don’t remain secure if the lawmakers traditionally elected from those constituencies are unable to deliver to their constituents.”
Hailing from the Leghari clan, which wields immense influence and owns thousands of acres in South Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan district, Awais has what many would many political observers would deem a ‘secure’ seat in NA-172 D G Khan-II constituency.
His father, Sardar Farooq Leghari, was a former president of Pakistan. His grandfather and great grandfather had both served as ministers in the Pakistani government. Following the death of his father, Awais’s brother took over as the 27th chief of the Leghari tribe as well.
According to Awais, however, the value of such credentials in winning elections in what once were secure constituencies has diminished these days.
“Our margins of victory [in elections] are decreasing,” he said referring to lawmakers with huge vote banks in their respective constituencies. “Where once we won with a margin of 80,000 votes, we are now winning elections with 10,000 to 12,000 votes.”
Awais credited the internet and media for bringing about this change.
“Today, a 10-year-old boy can stand up and ask us ‘what have you delivered?’ because of the media and the internet,” he said. “If the water supply scheme does not work in a village in our constituency, we will be bombarded with criticism on social media.”
“People today hold politicians accountable on two points: did we stay in touch with them and did we alleviate their problems,” he added.
Acknowledging its influence and outreach, Awais stressed the media needs to be responsible while remaining strong in order not to steer the country in the wrong direction.
Awais began his career in 1997 with the Millat Party his father formed after parting ways with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He later served as a federal minister for information technology in the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid cabinet after the Millat Party, along with other small faction, merged with it following the 2002 general elections. Awais is proud of that stint, claiming responsibility for bringing about Pakistan’s telecom revolution.
Awais left PML-Q in 2010 when the party joined the PPP-led coalition government. He briefly ‘flirted’ with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in his own words, quitting the party after just a few months.
He contested and won the NA-172 seat as an independent candidate in the 2013 general elections, and later joined the ruling PML-N with his group of two MNAs and four MPAs. As a PML-N lawmaker, he currently chairs the prestigious National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
During his candid talk with The Express Tribune, Awais shared some polling day tricks winning candidates employ.
“The first thing a candidate has to do is to bring voters from their homes to polling stations,” he said. “To win, a candidate needs to have around a thousand motivated followers to tactfully manage polling stations on election day. There are around 250 polling stations for a single National Assembly constituency and a candidate need eight to 10 dedicated workers at each one,” he added
“You have to know by what time your polling agents should be at polling stations. They need to be there at least 30 minutes before polling begins,” the PML-N lawmaker explained.
At the polling station, Awais continued, a polling agent must be aware of whether his candidate’s position is strong or weak.
“If the candidate’s position weakens, a trained agent will slow down the polling process by raising one objection or the other before the presiding officer,” he said. “A hundred votes that aren’t polled means your opponent misses out on a hundred votes.”
Outlining challenges, Awais pointed out that it was not humanly possible for single polling agent to manage a booth for the entire nine hours polling takes place. “Those who know the process, have four or so agents at one polling booth,” he said. “They work in three-hour shifts so they are full of energy throughout the process.”
Awais said the reason PTI was unable to translate its popularity into electoral success was because it could not effectively manage its polling day activities. He attributed PTI lawmaker Jahangir Tareen’s recent victory in by-elections to the community-based organisation set-up he outlined.
“Whatever popularity PTI has, they do not know how to convert it into parliamentary majority. The actual vote bank of a party or candidate is usually 30 to 40 per cent more than the votes polled in their favour,” he said. “To win, you need to skillfully capitalise on this.”
Another failing on PTI’s part, according to Awais, was party chief Imran Khan not quite knowing how to use a vote bank.
“You have an individual vote bank and a party vote bank. In some cases the individual vote bank is 80 per cent and party vote bank is 20 per cent. Sometimes it is vice- versa. You bag a seat through prudent use of this combination. Imran Khan did not have this in the last election,” he said.
He gave the example of ex-minister Chaudhry Nauraiz Shakoor, who wanted to contest elections from Sahiwal. PTI, Awais said, took the ‘nonsense’ decision of forcing Shakoor to field his son in the election. “Shakoor knew how many votes he would get and how many his son would get.”
After working with various parties in 20-year career, Awais has come to believe most political parties in Pakistan, including PTI, are alike. “Mainstream parties draw more criticism, but that is because they have actually been in power,” he said. “A party like PTI hasn’t and so has less negatives on its resume.”
Awais added that for all its claims of being democratic and holding intra-party elections, PTI too was run by the party chief’s ‘kitchen cabinet’, much like any other party.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2016.