LG polls: far from perfect

It seemed that both the govt and ECP had not done enough homework to ensure a peaceful, systematic and fair election

It was a historic weekend in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) with the province’s first local government (LG) elections held under a democratically-elected government after a decade. These were not expected to be trouble-free and they certainly were not, but the system can only improve if given a chance to evolve. While the PTI maintained its strong position in the province and the ANP regained lost ground, there have been allegations of gross misconduct on the part of the ruling party and incidents of violence across the province that resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people. The ruling PTI’s credibility took a hit with the way the whole polling process panned out, which was further marred by the arrest of the respected ANP politician Mian Iftikhar Hussain. This put the government’s fairness into question, particularly because little action seems to have been taken against PTI lawmaker Ali Amin Gandapur who was accused of forcibly taking away ballot boxes in D I Khan.

Therefore, while it is laudable that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the K-P government managed the feat of holding the LG polls, at the same time it is also important that their inadequacies are identified and addressed. The polls have been expected for some time, but it seemed that both the government and the ECP had not done enough homework to ensure a peaceful, systematic and fair election. In its preliminary report, the Free and Fair Elections Network (Fafen) criticised the mismanagement and the irregularities observed in the polling process. The report said that there was lack of clarity on the LG system itself with candidates, voters and polling staff unaware of the rules of business. Also, despite the ECP’s warning against women being barred from voting, the violation continued. Women voters in Upper Dir have accused the police of preventing them from voting. These reports must be investigated and if proven, results from the area nullified. Attempts to exclude an entire gender from a polling process cannot ensure good governance. What has been heartening about the elections, however, was the high voter turnout. According to Fafen, there was a nearly eight per cent rise in the number of voters compared with the 2013 general elections. This reflects the expectations people have from the system. It is hoped that the system does not disappoint them and gives space to emerging leaders and a culture of accountability.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.