Concerning the forthcoming eighth general election in Pakistan two questions remain unanswered — whether the election will be held on February 18, 2008 and whether it will be free and fair? The elections were scheduled to be held on January 08, but were postponed due to the assassination of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, the Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). PPP is a major political party of Pakistan. It is believed that one of the reasons for the postponement of the election after Ms. Bhutto’s murder was the fear of the Musharraf government and its allied parties that a sympathy wave in favour of Ms. Bhutto would sweep Musharraf and his decrepit government out of office.
Even if the elections are to be held, it is feared that the current law and order situation in the country is not congenial to ensure security for the normal participation of the ordinary people. Within the past 40 days more than seven major bomb explosions has ripped the country apart injuring persons and causing heavy damage to property. The bombs were planted targeting public meetings and lawyers’ rallies. The lawyers in Pakistan has been holding protests ever since the former Chief Justice was removed from his office on March 2007. It is common talk in Pakistan that some of the explosions were targeting these protest rallies and that the government agents are suspected to be behind them. This series of explosions have also damaged the law enforcement agencies, logistically and morally.
Under these conditions, the opposition parties and human rights organisations, including the media, seriously doubt the transparency and fairness of the oncoming elections. According to a study and a survey conducted by Free and Fair Election Network Islamabad, in almost every constituency about 14,000 voters are listed more than once and these can be used for rigging the elections to help the government parties. The Free and Fair Election Network Islamabad is a network of 40 NGOs. The result was published by the Network after visiting 45,000 display centres established by the Election Commission of Pakistan. The survey also found that as many as 15 million voters (17.65% of an estimated 87.5 million citizens of voting age) may still be missing from the Final Electoral Roll (FER). 7.5 million voters on the FER (9.30% of 81 million records) may be listed more than once and 1.26 million National Identity Cards (CNIC) (1.55% of 81 million FER records) may be listed more than once. The survey also reveals that 27 % of Pakistani households have been dropped from the voters’ list. Neither the Election Commission nor the government has denied these data.
President Musharraf has announced that during a briefing on February 14 the law enforcement officers have been ordered to shoot any ‘miscreant’ who is found to be hindering the election process on the polling day. According to press reports about six people were killed in just three days, some 2000 workers of the PPP were arrested throughout the country, including seven candidates for national and provincial assemblies. Mr. Gian Chand, a candidate for the national assembly contesting against the former Chief Minister of Sindh and a known friend of President Musharraf, was arrested on the charges of anti-state activities. Mr. Chand is a Hindu and an activist of the PPP.
The government has also stopped the free movement of the foreign monitoring groups and foreign media persons on the pretext of terrorism. The Ministry of Interior has also announced that there are several terrorist and suicide groups prowling in the cities. About 19000 poling stations had been declared as ‘sensitive’.
The government also has imposed restrictions for the media on the ‘progressive’ announcement of results of the voting. The government has informed the newspapers, radio and television channels that only those results could be announced which are issued by the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA); a media restriction that was never been used in the history of the country. It has always been the practice that polling agents of different candidates, after the counting of votes, announce the result in the presence of the presiding officers.
President Musharraf has thus far retained his power with the help of the so called extra constitutional powers maintaining his domain as the Chief of Army Staff and as the President at the same time. The Election Commission was never reconstituted with the approval of any elected forum or with the consensus of the parliamentary political parties, which violates the mandatory requirement under the Constitution of Pakistan. Through the state of emergency declared on November 3, 2007, the president made several amendments in the Constitution to grab more power and he also tailored the judiciary according to his whims and also to save his friends from accountability by the judiciary.
The national and international media through a consensus analysis has raised suspicions that the elections of February 18 will rigged and that the coalition party led by Musharraf will be given an upper hand in the results. If the scheme for rigging the elections are to be implemented, it would be a dangerous move, not only for what is left as democracy in Pakistan but also for the very existence of the country. The persons and groups that will benefit the most will be the religious fundamentalists and militant organisations in Pakistan. In these circumstances the elections of February 18, would be yet another blow to the freedom of expression, civil liberties, constitutionalism, societal tolerance and the peoples participation in the state affairs in Pakistan.
