Voting blind

THE last time I heard the names of the persons who represent me in the
National Assembly (NA 125) and in the Punjab Provincial Assembly (PP 155)
was on polling day, Feb 18, 2008. That was almost five years ago. I have not
seen nor heard from them since. I will not hear from them again until some
time in 2013, when they will, like Pir Pagara, unveil their faces to the
faithful and solicit votes.

Both the MNA and the MPA belong to the PML-N. They have most probably forgotten
their party’s election manifesto issued for the 2008 election. In that case they are no
different for the 80.9 million registered voters who will not recall what each party
promised them during that hectic campaign — promises each vowed to keep and the
miles to go before each would sleep.

Instead, it is the voters who have been kept in a state of stupor these past five years. It
would not hurt them to be awakened with a reminder of the page of the political
manifestos they were reading when they dozed off five years ago.

Take the party that emerged with a majority in the National Assembly — the PPP. The
party’s manifesto for the 2008 elections was launched by the late Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto herself. She augmented her father’s slogan ‘roti, kapra aur makaan’ with five
additional sectors: employment, education, energy, environment and equality.
(Presumably, the economy was expected to manage itself.)

Specifically, to promote employment, educated youth would be given a trial employment

for a year and encouraged to avail micro-finance as a source of self-help. The ‘menace of
loadshedding’ would be overcome by the construction of small dams. The curriculum
would be revised ‘in line with modern education’; the university campuses and
madressahs would be deweaponised.

It would be interesting to couple that PPP manifesto with the one of the PML-Q — once
branded by Mr Zardari as ‘PML-Qatil’ and now his partner in government. Continuing
PPP’s alliteration, the PML-Q moved up one letter from E to D. It defined its vision as
five Ds: democracy, development, devolution, diversity and defence. It rejected the
sifarshi (nepotism) and khushamdi (flattery) culture. Five years later, the cousin of its
leader is the deputy prime minister, an extra-constitutional post created for him.

The MQM manifesto translated its credo of amn, taraqi and khushali as ‘peace, progress
and prosperity’ until some wag noticed that it abbreviated to ‘PPP’. The MQM electoral
argument ran that a federation presupposed the existence (or creation) of provinces
willing to join a federation. It demanded therefore provincial autonomy, leaving
defence, foreign affairs and currency to the centre.

The PML-N, now the main opposition party, took its cue from King Charles II whose
return from exile in 1666 marked the period known in Britain as the Restoration. The
effect of Nawaz Sharif’s seven-year exile in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom was
reflected in the acronym the PML-N used for its manifesto: RESTORE. R stood for
restoration of the judiciary, democracy and the 1973 constitution; E for the elimination
of the army from politics; S for security; T for tolerance, O for overall national
reconciliation and development, R for relief for the poor, and E for employment,
education and health.

Each of the other parties proposed less and therefore delivered more. The ANP prayed
for a change of the NWFP’s name to Pakhtunkhwa. It became Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
with such ripple-less ease that persons wondered why previous federal governments had
refused to accommodate this provincial demand before. The manifestos of the smaller
parties which have single-digit representation in the National Assembly were of
comparatively less relevance, except to their loyalist voters.

To what extent each of these parties has fulfilled those commitments since 2008 will be
for voters to decide whenever the next general election is held. Understandably, for the
time being, parties take refuge for their inaction in Thomas Fuller’s aphorism that it is
better to break your word than to do worse by keeping it.

Re-reading party manifestos issued for previous elections makes one realise what an
Irish stew many of them are — fresh ideas added to older ones left in the pot the night
before. Some are no better than a cut and paste job — using rusted scissors and
desiccated paste. None of the major political parties has yet released its manifesto for
2013.

Interestingly, the most savvy and ahead in terms of planning for 2013 is the Election
Commission of Pakistan. Belying the maturity of the octogenarian chief election
commissioner (they could not have found an older and wiser man for the job), the ECP
responds instantly if you contact them on your mobile. Type in 8300 and your ID card
number. Within seconds, the commission confirms your registration and your
constituency. I text, ergo I am.

For us Pakistani voters, it is a significant technological breakthrough. But we are still

aeons behind the Indians. They computerised their balloting system years ago. The
Saudis, having recently given their women the right to vote, are ‘tagging’ them like sheep
to trace their whereabouts. Perhaps we should tag our 80 million registered voters to
ensure that political parties know exactly where their delinquent voters are in 2013. It
should certainly help them to improve upon the 44 per cent turnout in the last elections.