Need to do away with by-elections

In Pakistan, we have many drawbacks. Our political system is also reflective of the same and unfortunately we are unable to develop a strong system to govern the country.

In the aftermath of general elections, by-elections are organised on seats that fall vacant due to reasons such as the death of a candidate, or deduction of flaws in papers submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), or because the candidate was convicted of a crime.

I am of the view that given the complex political system we have in Pakistan, a change in law is required whereby if a seat falls vacant for any reason during an ongoing term, it should be awarded to the party or to the family of the independent candidate who had won the general elections.

My arguments for not holding by-elections are as follows.

In urban centers, seats belong to political parties whereas in the semi-urban and rural areas it is the electable who plays a vital role in a candidate’s victory. This is a matter of mindset and I do not see any change in the perception of the public or the powerful people living in these areas. These electables are so powerful that they openly violate policies of their party, and political parties continue to tolerate them under pressure. Tahir Sadiq won three seats in the 2018 general elections and later vacated two seats. In NA-56, one of the seats vacated by him, he wanted PTI to award a ticket to his son-in-law Wasim Gulzar, but the party took a different line and awarded the ticket to another candidate. Mr Sadiq, angry at the party, supported his opponent and deprived his own party of a vital seat in the National Assembly. This is just one example of the power of the electables but our politics is filled with numerous incidents where electables remain untouched for violations because of the influence they have in their respective constituency.

Furthermore, the accountability of a candidate or a political party is also an issue when by-elections are held midway in a government’s stipulated term. If a change of guard occurs after the passage of nearly half of the allocated term, the public will be in a fix over who to hold accountable for its woes. Karachi’s NA-249 is an example of this. Now that the candidate of the ruling party, Mr Faisal Vawda, has been elevated to the Senate, by-elections have been called for the constituency. Mr Vawda, prior to the 2018 general elections, made tall claims to revamp the constituency but unfortunately failed to fulfil his promises. If this seat is won by a PTI candidate in the coming weeks then sanity will prevail but if the opposition candidate wins, then the public will be hard pressed to decide which party betrays them and who they will choose for the future.

Pakistan also struggles with a battle of egos where political parties can go to the extent of even killing their opponent just for the sake of one seat in the assembly. Unfortunately, those killed in such tussles are poor party workers whose families are left to suffer alone. Every human life is precious and if we have to do away with organising by-elections just for the sake of protecting a human life, I believe we should do so.

I have been observing Pakistan’s political system for more than three decades and find by-elections to be a useless element of our system. They are a waste of precious financial and human resources and people living in the constituency feel the burden of an activity which has no impact on their lives.

All political parties should weigh the pros and cons of by-elections and come up with a constitutional amendment to permanently eradicate the practice.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2021.

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