Grievances ignored by elected officials

Lack of political representation delays crucial developmental work in remote constituencies

PESHAWAR:

Direct communication between elected leaders and the common people is characteristic of the healthy functioning of a democracy however, as a few political representatives take responsibility for millions across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the grievances of multitudes go unheard.

With elections just around the corner, the recent series of delimitations have created resentment among the local population, which feels that assigning the responsibility of millions of people to a few Members of National Assembly (MNAs) and Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) will create a massive barrier between the people and their representatives, preventing any serious improvements from being made in the education, health, water and infrastructure of the far-flung areas.

Liaquat, who lives near the Government Science Superior College, 3 kilometers away from Peshawar city, expressed his worry about the condition of his street, which has big puddles of standing water since 2013.

“This area is the former constituency NA-1 of Peshawar, but it now falls under NA-32 after the recent delimitations. Despite the fact that two elections have passed, no one has bothered paying any attention to this area,” bemoaned Liaquat, who felt that the leaders of political parties prioritized development work only in the inner cities, and their adjoining areas, where the number of voters was high.

Similarly, Rafaqat Bibi, a local from Harguni, a suburb of Peshawar, told the Express Tribune that the roads in her area were in ruins. “About ten villages do not even have a high school for girls, which is a tragedy,” cried Rafaqat, who claimed that the Member of National Assembly (MNA) elected from their area, spent more time in the federal capital then in her rural area.

According to sources of The Express Tribune, the most recent set of delimitations have resulted in a political scenario where one public representative will be expected to oversee the education, health, water and infrastructure for over 0.9 million people.

Political scientists like Dr Abdul Rauf, former Chairman of the Political Science Department at the University of Peshawar, believe that the matter of public representation is a double-edged sword. “While it is difficult for one public representative to reach 0.9 million people, increasing the number of public representatives means spending more money on their housing, transport and salary, putting unwarranted stress on national resources,” elucidated Dr Rauf, who still felt that having fewer people under one representative could improve people’s access to their leader, allowing their problems to be addressed.

It is important to reiterate that the Election Commission of Pakistan released the list of new constituencies, according to which six constituencies have been reduced from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and six constituencies have been reduced from the integrated tribal district.

As per the new list of constituencies, Bajaur’s NA 40 and NA 41, are now NA 8, Khyber’s NA 43 and 44 are now NA 27, and Kurram’s NA 45 and 46 are now NA 27, while the constituencies of Orakzai, NA 47 and South Waziristan have also been abolished among other changes.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2023.