The power of youth: New voters yearning to have their say

Most are ready to vote against their traditional family choice.

KARACHI: After weeks of campaigning alongside their favourite party's candidates, thousands of young voters in Karachi would step out of their houses to vote today.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, around a third (34%) of the voters are less than 31 years old and nearly a fifth (19.77 %) are under the age of 26.

Karachi, like the rest of the country, would see hundreds of youngsters who would be exercising their right to vote for the first time. Kiran Dar, a student of the Ziauddin University, belongs to a family where female participation in politics is frowned upon. But this hasn't stopped her from spending her post-classes time at a party camp office. "My parents don't want me to vote because they are afraid of the blasts. But I have told them that they will vote for a naya Pakistan."

By using her vote, Shazia Adnan of Jinnah University wants the law and order situation to improve besides a focus on women's inheritance rights.

Dar and Adnan both belong to NA-253 (Gulshan-e-Iqbal), where a total of 519,854 voters are registered. Of these, 293,072 are male voters and 226,782 are female voters. Na-248 has the lowest number of registered voters (295,536).

Arsalan Ghumman, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial assembly aspirant, said that he has been busy in mobilising students. He said that NED, Karachi University (KU) and Federal Urdu University of Arts and Science are situated in his constituency and account for 60 per cent of the youth vote from the area. "I have all young people in my team as I want the youth to rise."

The youth have refused to toe the line of their family elders when it comes to voting. Fayyaz and Muhammad Aman of KU are both voting against their family's traditional choice. "We want the culture of guns to end in our university and we will be voting for those who are vocal against it."

An important question doing the rounds is whether the youth vote will be a game spoiler or a game changer. Wasay Jalil of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that they believed in the power of youth and that is why  they have people like Mustafa Kamal and Faisal Subzwari in their fold. He rejected the perception that youngsters' inclination towards PTI will prove to be disastrous for his party.

Political analyst Hasan Askari also believes that PTI cannot challenge MQM's dominance in Karachi. Though Imran Khan has a lot of support but it's not enough to upset the power equation in urban Sindh, he added.