Analysis: Caretakers may ruin many

Whether it is about the implementation of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution in letter and spirit or the scrutiny process demanded by the Sheikh ul-Islam [Dr Tahirul Qadri] and the latest jigsaw puzzle of nomination papers, all complicate the process; hence, creating fear of pre-poll rigging.

Although a few elements of the pre-poll rigging tried in the ’90s are missing at this juncture, new ones are replacing the old tricks. Most important is the caretaker governments in the centre and provinces. Everybody is talking about the code of conduct for candidates but no one is bothered about the same for the caretakers.

Hardly anybody is anticipating the damage the caretakers can cause to candidates and political parties by simply commenting on the performance of the outgoing rulers. A statement by a caretaker prime minister, federal ministers or any chief minister about the performance of outgoing governments alleging corruption may ruin the election campaign of any political party. We have witnessed in the past such campaigns by the caretakers against outgoing political parties.

There should be a code of conduct for the caretakers too, limiting them to run day-to-day affairs and not indulge in any kind of campaign, far and against, the outgoing governments.

The tenure of the caretakers should be as minimal as possible. It can be achieved by promptly completing the election process that may be 45 days in case of the dissolution of assemblies on the completion of terms.


In the ‘90s, there were three pre-poll rigging elements and two on the polling day. Three governments had been dismissed in the middle of their tenure allegedly for corruption, violation of the Constitution and working against the national interest.

It resulted in an obvious message to the electorate that the elected political party was not ousted to stage a comeback soon. The electable were pampered or coerced to join the winning party. We witnessed a reasonable number of politicians changing loyalties after the dismissal of the governments.

The second element was a malicious campaign unleashed by the government-controlled television making sure that the people vote for the party that the establishment wants. At the same time, the campaign discouraged voters of the political party ousted from the government from coming out on the day of election as the result seemed obvious.

The third element of pre-poll rigging was the trial of ousted leaders, forcing them to spend more time in the courts than on election campaigns. The presidency, establishment, judiciary and the caretaker set-up had been working day and night to keep the ‘corrupt ones’ out.

Then came the day of election, on which there was no rigging but theft. Many voters coming to polling stations had been turned away after being told that their vote had already been cast. In the evening, the results were prepared somewhere and sent to PTV and the election commission to make the final announcement. The most interesting bit of all was not the formation of IJI (Islami Jamhoori Ittehad) or the provision of secret funds to its leaders in 1990 but during the 1997 elections, when polling was held on the same day for national and provincial assemblies the late Pir Pagara Shah Mardan II said that the elections were so transparent that one could see through.

The results of the 1997 elections, if one can find the record from the election commission, would be worth studying. The number of votes polled in a constituency for national and provincial assembly candidates on the same day had huge discrepancy in counting, roughly about 30 to 35,000. A renowned lawyer and then PPP candidate Iftikhar Gilani was courageous enough to challenge this discrepancy in the Supreme Court but later decided to stay away from the controversy.

While all these elements might be missing in the 2013 elections, many more are there to check unwanted candidates and political parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2013.