Flight franchise: Jet, set, vote!

Expat Pakistanis planning to fly home to vote in elections.

KARACHI:

With the fate of voting for overseas Pakistanis seemingly stuck in limbo, some voters have decided to go the extra mile – or, rather, a few thousand extra miles. These enthusiastic people, mostly Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf supporters, plan on travelling to the motherland simply to cast their votes in their home constituencies.

The US and UK based members of PTI are arranging chartered flights to ferry voters into Pakistan just before the polls, and then take them back right after.

“[The] 2013 elections have created a lot of interest and people want to vote,” explains PTI London President Shahbaz Khan.

He adds that there is confusion among the expatriate community about what the next two weeks will bring, and whether there will be enough polling stations or time for them to vote in the countries of their residence.

Khan, following in the footsteps of PTI’s US chapter, is arranging a chartered flight from London to Lahore. When asked why Lahore, he says it is because of the “the makeup of the Pakistani population in London”.

Currently, tickets are tentatively priced at around £500, compared to around £700 on Emirates or PIA. “It depends on the number of people who want to come along. If we do not have enough people to charter a separate plane, we will go as a group,” Khan says in a determined tone.

According to him, they have been in constant touch with travel agents and have set the April 26 deadline to finalise the names of all those who will travel.

“We are doing this because a lot of people want to go and are PTI supporters … we want to give a message to the Pakistani nation that if people can fly from the UK to Pakistan to vote, then people can certainly get out to vote in their home constituencies,” says Khan.

He adds that the PTI central leadership is aware of their efforts and has encouraged the move. However, the party has not forked out any funds – those willing to make the journey will have to pay their fare.

The prospective trip has not been restricted to PTI supporters only and voters of other parties can also avail the opportunity. “We want to change the situation in Pakistan,” says Khan. “We want to encourage people that this is the time to decide the future of the country.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2013.