First hand experience on the 2024 General Election

Having been asked to pen a few words on the 2024 General Election, in particular firsthand experience on the NA 101 election campaign, I regretfully can only summarise that Pakistan is a country that takes pride from not learning its past mistakes and is rightfully so low on the global democratic index because we as a nation do not strive or even believe in the evolution of democratic norms.

I remember 2018, where the PTI injected virus was so contagious that voters in certain constituencies were not even ready to converse let alone welcome candidates from any other party in their localities or homes. Their basis to favour, support or vote for PTI backed candidates, regardless of their past affiliations, were that leaders of other political parties, be it Sharif’s, Bhutto’s or Zardari’s have structured the political landscape in favour of their dynastic approach and despite having been at the helm of governance for good part of the past 30 years, their deliverance has been well below par. Yes, thanks to the continuous brainwashing through extensive media coverage and biased analysis, the voters actually discredited utility of mass-projects, significant constitutional developments and decades of political struggle etched in the Pakistan’s political history. As the virus was so prevalent and deadlier than anything Pakistan had ever experienced, the only counter I could offer was a plea for every citizen to vote responsibly and vote for a candidate considering their overall profile, knowledge of constituency issues, political achievements/background/struggle and availability. Evidently, none of that worked, and PTI, not only NA 109 (current NA 101) but was also given Islamabad on a silver platter.

Fast forward to 2024, I will not go in assessing the performance of PTI’s governance in Islamabad, Lahore or Peshawar, merits on the VONC or credibility of post-9th May events. But one thing that the GE has proved is that despite entering its 77th year of independence, Pakistan is way behind in being classified as a full-fledge mature democracy. Yes, the public sentiment still rides on populist wave. Yes, the public sentiment is fairly easy to manipulate through playing the victim card. However, the voter is not wise enough to base their choice on crucial electoral factors. This assumption is based on evidence proving that this election showed flaws in voter behaviour to such an extent that candidature was critically ignored, to such an extent that past performance was critically ignored and to such an extent that campaign management shortcomings of several candidates was critically ignored. This is very easy to assess considering the results of several constituencies based in Faisalabad division, Gujranwala division and Sargodha division. For example, many tickets were awarded by PTI to their sixth or seventh choice candidates against household PML-N names, who have a build strong footings in their constituencies based on public delivery, engagement and relationship with constituents, spanning over several decades. I find it really difficult to digest that some candidates were significantly leading from polling stations they were not even aware existed in their constituency polling schemes or UCs they did not even visit throughout the election campaign, and their attitude/behaviour is flawed to such an extent that they do not believe in the notion of public contact/engagement for efficacy of public service and appreciation of public mandate. It’s easy to swallow this bitter pill by remembering that this is just another election and several will follow but my plea to every citizen to vote responsibly and vote for a candidate considering their overall profile, knowledge of constituency issues, political achievements/background/struggle and availability remains intact and is further enforced as a solution to our beloved homeland’s continuous struggle in being self-sufficient and full of pride.

Pakistan Zindabad!