Student council: Election fever catches on at Kinnaird College

Off-campus campaigning on social networking websites is all the rage.

LAHORE:

From campaigning on bicycles to wearing t-shirts emblazoned with nominees’ names, students participating in the elections for the student council at the Kinnaird College for Women have taken campaigning to a whole new world, the virtual world.

The list of nominees, shortlisted in a detailed review process, was put up on March 22 when the college broke for a weeklong Spring-Easter break. With elections scheduled to begin from April 4, candidates were allowed only two days (April 2 and 3) to campaign on-campus. In view of the constraint, the election committee allowed candidates to use websites like Facebook and Twitter for their campaigns.



Fanny Mazna, a candidate for applied sciences deputy, said, “Some students are surprisingly more active on Facebook than they are on campus.” Since online campaigning was allowed well ahead of the elections, various candidates had made pages on Facebook, she said. “In case I win, I plan to keep my Facebook page active to allow students a cheap and accessible platform to discuss issues and to plan events,” Mazna said.

Bareeha Fatima and Leena Zahid Khan, who are contesting for the spot of debating society president, have both set up Facebook pages.

“It is easier running a campaign on social media,” said Fatimah, who is doing her bachelor’s with a major in international relations. Her Facebook page carries memes and animated slogans, one of them reading ‘Victoria’s real secret: she is voting for Bareeha’. Fatimah said her experience of campaigning online had been excellent as she would receive instant feedback from supporters. “But there is also a downside to this,” she said. There is a lot of uncontrolled name-bashing and trolling that goes with the territory, said Fatimah.

Her rival Leena Zahid Khan agrees. “It just kills the spirit of campaigning,” she said. Khan has been using Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp to reach out to voters but admits it does not have the same effect as campaigning on-campus. “The real campaigning will begin on April 2,” she said. Her supporters will be clad in blue, handing out badges, pens and shirts with her name on it, she said.

Fatimah’s supporters will wear neon pink nail colour and hand out cupcakes and candies to students. A ‘Wall of Bareeha’ will be set up where students will put up post-its explaining why they would vote for her.

Intra-college elections develop a deeper understanding of democratic attitudes, said Syeda Seema Bilal, candidate for head girl.

“Even though it’s on a very small scale, candidates realise their responsibility once elected to positions of power,” she said.

With over 1,200 likes on her Facebook page in a week, Bilal says the social media campaign had helped students learn more about her.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2013.