Chaos unfolding T seems there will be no avoiding the inevitable for the ECP. I Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha’s Saturday press conference, during which he dropped bombshell allegations against the CEC, has strengthened the demands for an immediate and independent audit of election results. The senior officer, while expressing regret for “facilitating” the rigging of election results, asked to be punished while also holding the respective heads of the judiciary and ECP responsible for “the theft of the people’s mandate”. Lending credence to allegations that have been made by scores of contestants from different political parties over the past 10 days or so, Mr Chattha said that, on his orders, candidates who were winning with large margins in the constituencies of the Rawalpindi division were made to lose, while the losing candidates were declared victorious. “I am taking responsibility for this wrongdoing and telling you that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice are also completely involved,” he alleged. A commissioner is no ordinary officer. They are some of, the most powerful bureaucrats in service, handpicked by the state to oversee entire administrative divisions. By virtue of their position, they exercise immense power and influence over the machinery of the state. It is, therefore, no surprise that Mr Chattha’s ‘confession’ has caused quite a storm. It has been widely extolled as an example of a bureaucrat resisting pressures from powerful quarters and choosing to stand on the right side of history. However, one must also remain wary of confirmation bias. Humans have a tendency to believe anything that affirms what we already hold to be true. For this reason, it is in everyone’s best interest that Mr Chattha’s claims are immediately and thoroughly investigated and that any supporting evidence that is unearthed be brought before the public. The claims he has made cannot be dismissed; at the same time, however, one must exercise increased prudence during times of growing uncertainty. These élections will be remembered as perhaps the most controversial electoral exercise held in the last few decades. The credit for this unforgettable ignominy will accrue mainly to the ECP, which, despite being empowered by the law in every possible manner to conduct “free, fair, impartial and inclusive’”’polls, betrayed its mandate in the worst possible way. Its failure to ensure transparency in the vote-counting process, in particular, has caused unaffordable chaos, with multiple stakeholders now unwilling to accept the results given how stark the irregularities seem. Instead of addressing the public’s apprehensions or assuring them that issues in results tabulation will be promptly looked into, the ECP has chosen to stay mum. Now, much more serious allegations are being levelled against senior officials of the state. The commission must wake up. Its silence is causing irreparable harm.Fafen report T seems that, contrary to what had been widely assumed, I the overall level of public participation in the electoral process was lower this time compared to 2018, a post-election analysis conducted by the Free and Fair Election Network shows. Voter participation, measured as ‘turnout’, is the proportion of how many voters actually showed up to vote compared to the total number of registered voters in the electoral rolls. Fafen’s analysis, which relies on Form 47 data published by the ECP, reveals that turnout slipped from 52.1pc in 2018 to 47.6pe this year. There is a silver lining, however: nearly 5.8m more citizens cast their votes in 2024 compared to 2018. The anomaly — more votes, less turnout — was due to the record addition of 22.6m voters to the electoral rolls before this year’s election. A further investigation into how many voters in different age brackets voted will shed more light on whether the huge addition of young voters had a net positive impact on turnout or not. This is something that has far-reaching implications for Pakistan’s electoral politics, and observers and analysts will be keen to find out. KP and Balochistan recorded the lowest turnouts, with the former doing slightly worse than the latter. Punjab recorded the sharpest decline from 2018, with the overall turnout declining to 51.6pc in 2024 from 56.8pc the last time the general election was held. Though it would be premature to chalk the lower turnout up to specific reasons considering the paucity of data available, it is hoped it does not represent a secular decline in citizens’ enthusiasm for the democratic process. Indeed, the results this time have signalled that many Pakistani voters still believe that their vote can be used to send a strong message to powerful quarters. The exercise may lose some credibility due to the controversy over the manipulation of results, and the ECP will be to blame for this — however, considering how unprecedented the results have been, it is hoped that they will encourage even more people to vote and make sure they get heard the next time. Lastly, and most positively, the increase in women voters was more than double the increase in men voters. This means that women were generally more inclined to vote this year — a trend we hope continues to hold.Power protests ROTESTS against extensive power outages are not P uncommon in Pakistan, particularly in the hot summer months. Yet the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have been demonstrating against power cuts even in winter. This is understandable when the region’s residents have to daily put up with 22 hours of load-shedding. Only a few weeks ago, region-wide protests were held over a range of issues, including removal of the wheat subsidy and imposition of the Finance Act 2023. Load-shedding was also a key driver of the protests. Matters appeared to be heading towards a resolution when on Feb 5, members of the Awami Action Committee — an umbrella body bringing together political parties and civil society that led the demonstrations — met representatives of the regional government to ‘temporarily’ suspend the protest campaign. But on Thursday, the protesters were back on the roads in several GB towns, saying that nothing had been done to end the power cuts. The demonstrators further claimed that VIPs were being provided 24-hour electricity through “special power lines”. The problem in GB is not just about inhumanely long hours of load-shedding; it is about an apathetic state that does not listen to the people, and does not deliver on its promises. Though the region has an elected government, this dispensation has failed to meet the aspirations of the people, perhaps because the final say on GB’s matters comes from Islamabad. The incoming federal government needs to provide the regional administration with the tools needed to alleviate the concerns of the locals, while the centre must use all powers at its disposal to give GB’s people their full rights. When all other avenues fail, people use their democratic right to protest in order to highlight their concerns. If the GB administration had listened to the local population, and if the centre had done more to improve the region’s quality of life, people would not have to frequently demonstrate.ec MOHAMMAD Hussain, who hails from Ghanche in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and has. been working in a household in Lahore, watched in despair as the whole of Pakistan, except for his own fellow Baltis, went to vote for their preferred candi. dates in the Feb 8 election, Hussain asked his boss why his folks were not allowed to vote. He could not understand the com- plex answer to this simple question, GB's political fate has been hanging in the balance for the past seven decades, even though on the eve of partition, the people of Gilgit Agency and many other northern areas, who had hardly accepted the suzerainty of the Dogra rulers, expressed their wish to join Pakistan. However, the political fate of these terri: tories got linked to the dispute between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir. Ever since, the territories of Gilgit, Skardu, Diamer, Astore, Ghanche, Ghizer, and Hunza have been under Pakistan’s administrative control. Their people join the civil and armed services, carry Pakistan national identity cards, and for all practical purposes are Pakistanis. Yet, they cannot join our National Assembly and Senate to partici- pate in Pakistan’s governance. Successive governments have tried to enhance GB's administrative autonomy, particularly in 2009 and 2018, but have fallen well short of what the people of GB. have repeatedly demanded: full integra- tion into Pakistan. In January 2019, the Supreme Court extended its jurisdiction to GB, creating an anomaly, because con- stitutionally GB was not a part of Pakistan, In March 2021, the GB Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolu- tion demanding, provisional provincial status with representation in the constitu. tional bodies of Pakistan, Further, GB residents feel that while Pakistan took from the resources of GB, it was reluctant to give it constitutional status. ‘There is political consensus in Pakistan to admit GB as a provisional province. Under prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the Sartaj Aziz Committee recommended in 2016 giving GB a provisional provincial status. Prime minister Imran Khan’s gov- ernment had also announced in 2020 that GB would be granted a provisional provin- cial status, And yet, the status quo is so hard to break, mainly because the inte- gration of these territories into Pakistan could undermine the UNSC resolutions calling for determining the political fate of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir through a plebiscite under UN auspices. So, for nearly 76 years, the people of GR have been waiting for the plebiscite. Is sucha plebiscite likely to happen any- BY AIZAZ AHMAD CHAUDHRY == GB without rights time soon? The ground reality is that India has consistently and "brazenly refused to implement UNSC resolutions ‘on the Kashmir dispute. The Modi govern- ment went a step further to annex the occupied territory in August 2019, and is currently engaged in demographic and electoral engineering to change the ‘Muslim-majority status of India-occupied Kashmir in blatant violation of the UNSC resolutions. However, given India’s large market and strategic partnership with the US, there is no real pressure of the inter- national community on India to fulfil its obligations under the resolutions. So, in practical terms, the prospects of India agreeing to hold the plebiscite are extremely low. If that is the ground real- ity, then the people of GB wonder how much longer they have to wait to get their right to self-determination recognised. Understandably, integrating GB could have implications for Pakistan’s legal posi- tion on the Kashmir dispute. Henee, the suggestion has been to keep the integra- “tion provisi- onal and su- bject to the final settle- ment of the Gilgit-Baltistan’s fate has been hanging in the Kashmir di- balance for ee decades. are other fa ctors that must not be ignored. Firstly, the people of GB have a right to self-determination, which is a fun- damental right that overrides other considerations. Secondly, given the salience of our rela- tionship with Beijing, GB provides the vital geographical link to China and is central to the implementation of CPEC. Formally integrating GB will give full con- stitutional protection to CPEC-related and other international investments in GB. Thirdly, ignoring the consistently expressed desire of the people of GB to join Pakistan is creating a sense of aliena- tion in GB, which could be exploited by the detractors of Pakistan. As it is, BJP leaders in India have sharpened their rhetoric of claim on these territories. In view of these arguments, itis strate- gic imperative that GB be integrated into Pakistan as a provisional province with- ‘out further delay and its people be recog- nised as citizens of Pakistan with full rights admissible under the Constitution of Pakistan, pending a final settlement of the Kashmir dispute. = The wniter, a former foreign secretary, is chairman Sanober institute Islamabad.TUNDERSTAND that politics is the art of compromise, but why must women’s bo- dies be sacrificed at the altar of deal-making? This question weighs heavily on my mind, but I’ve accepted this is just the way things are going to be here. Men accused of sexual assault, for example, will be awarded seats because that crime won't be considered as grievous as their opponents’ Toot maar. Iwas reminded of just how little value is placed on women when news of Imran Khan’s decision to nominate Amin Gandapur broke. [understand enough polities to know that you won't find a perfect candidate or one that will appeal to various stakehold- ers. However, since Gandapur’s name was announced, many questions were raised across prime time shows, leading with his alleged role in May 9 violence. It would be grossly unfair to reward him with such a high seat when people are imprisoned on the same charges. Many people brought up his sexist remarks made at jalsas about Maryam Nawaz, saying she spent Rs80m on taxpayers’ money on cosmetic surgery. (twas not denounced by the party leader ship or supporters.) What few mentioned on mainstream media, but it figured on social media, were the serious allegations about his alleged support to the perpetra- tors of a crime where a teenage girl was stripped and paraded naked in his native D.L Khan in 2017. He has denied those charges. That the chairman thought it more important to send a certain message to the country with Gandapur’s nomination is the reminder Ineeded about women being sacrificial lambs again and again in deal- making. What disappoints me the most is the women who support this. I'm talking about the party supporters who blast ‘fem- inists’ for not standing up for a host of issues related to PTI but stay silent when women are thrown under the bus by their party leadership. Gandapur should not be the hill anyone wants to die on, Iris possible to support a party and criti- cise its policies. PTI has some of the most passionate women supporters and leaders, many of whom do not subseribe to these horrendous views. Lhope they will take co- urage and denounce anti-women rhetoric. Unfortunately, Gandapur is not alone in the brazen display of misogyny but how can we make it unacceptable to hold such views, at least in public office? You can’t eradicate misogyny but surely there is another road away from systems built on a disregard for women’s participation in ic life. lis is why language matters, especially BY MUNA KHAN == All about women if they frame policies. Remember when we celebrated Afghans for having ‘broken the shackles of slavery’? Ir demonstrated a lack of thought to the consequences the Taliban's return to power will have on women. Today, there is no indi- cation when the Taliban will lift a ban on secondary education for girls, or working in government or travelling far without a male relative or even going to parks. Social services, like the healthcare sector, are ina dire state. There is a cost to this ban on women’s participation in the country’s pro- gress. The UNDP puta figure on it: an esti- mated five per cent of the country’s GDP. Perhaps one way forward is to stop thi- nking of issues as women’s issues. No issue only impacts women — be it her health or her freedom of movement. Women’s issues impact everyone; they require urgent redressal, which won't happen if their well-being is an afterthought; if she her- self perceives her safety, health, access to services was not taken into consideration when creating XYZ policy. "We should stri- ve to live in a cou- ntry where people think ewice before saying something sexist for ratings There can be no stability if half the ic Bizeles. Inste- demographic %,"We live in a is ignored. country where the portrayal of toxic masculinity, dom: estic violence and regressive female roles are considered ratings gold. Our pace of reforms towards gender equality is pain- fully slow. We ranked 142 out of 146 coun- tries on the Global Gender Gap report in 2023; it was 145 out of 146 in 2022. This is nothing to cheer. ‘The small optimist in me says things don’t have to be this way. Pakistan doesn’t have to keep featuring in lists of worst co- untries for women’s rights. That there is more to women than their reproductive abi- lity or place in the family or ties to power. T understand the new government has the economy as its foremost priority but stability cannot come if half the country’s demographic is ignored. Policies must include contributions women can make in stabilising Pakistan. Investments must be made in sectors that will enable their full participation, starting with health and education, which will lead to an increase in the labour force. All TV analysts are saying the new government has to take tough decisions. Thope they will make the right ones, too. The wnter is an instructor of joumalism. X: @LedeingLadyay BY ABBAS NASIR asa Controlled chaos? Think not HOPRS of clarity after the Feb 8 elections have evaporated and a country, perennially in the midst of a erlsis, now appears gripped by ‘chaos and in a tailspin, with the wildest of spect: lation ‘suddenly acquiring an emineaby plaus. le status, That is where we ace cm the ummally jnforiued soucislists snd analysts to the wildly swinging Vloggers, every: fe is clueless Truly so. Event more, columnists Such as this one. Would you stop reading if Town Uptonot havin any inside information? Perhaps ‘you might, and that's a tisk Thave to take in Bina home ‘Witat 1 Go know, aud you too, is that Pakistan has had endless experiments with military rule fer, moro accurately, has had ondloss oxport outs conducted by military rulors: from Ayub Khan's martial law fo Basie Democracies (0 Zia Tag's outright military. rile. and then an _sitemnpted clvilianisstion of that via partyless lection “which” produced a pariyrun, arliamon. ‘Ani, more recently, the eeneral-chie execu: tivehose martial law was cloaked in elyvies bar he wielded absolute power from the centre of his empire in Rawalpindl AL some point or the ‘other, each of these military rulers has suffered from a crisis of legitimacy and tried to hide Uehind a civilian facade. But, as 2 number of ‘Giestinie sn dilferent eens havo: demesteaber, the people have alvaayshad oer ideas, ‘On the other hand, racher than strengthen whatever little democracy we have had, the dem Scrat, who are supposed to be its guardians, Ihave tured for help to farces inimical te democ racy. Intinical becaise it challenges and under mines their primacy in decision-making and, more importantly, in resource allocation Such endless political engineering experi monte will always remilt in xome undeniable ‘urations too, What makes one feel awfulls that in country af some 240 million people, an unac cceptably large chunk of which lives below the ‘poverty lit, it 2 the shirtless wh will end up Bearing the brunt of te fallest ‘wuly believe in liberal, demo cratic valuesand nocms, it may me be difficult to ‘igest Gut, alter the failure of beth outright and brazen military rule and politically-engineered yorid set-ups, the inevitability of civilian-led nthoritarianism ar our version of Fascism stares ‘isin the face Td be happy to say, for once, what we have ix controlled chaos simned at crisis managemeut, Dur it does not appear that way, does it The ext trol aver the ‘narrative’ has been lost. Daily ret lations from those long acknowledged as dome: rats with ties toman democrats, co civil servants relish Seomeciah haxeutten wwaltened (hu hot suffietentiy to point to the elephant in che room) is also symptomatic of Trietion Within, IF Endless political engineering experiments will always result in some undesirable mutations, nota broakcdon "This is where we are. So, what is the way for ward, ifthere is one, st all? Well, given the ter Chaos in which we find ourselves’ the path ahead Jooies neither mapped nor clea Trisequally trae that the country and the people are being pulled jn different directions Tndeed, the media i to blame for some of the hysteria we are witnessing today, but If is not suilty of triguering or generating tt. Admitted with demands of the 28x7 rolling mews formats, the media may be contributing fo the madness by highlighting the chacs on w loon, but it fart Tia coniscntator Hie me suggests the only way forward that is viable, sustainable and work. fable wilh the capacity to deliver stability, | ea be certain many friends and foes alileo will accuse of me being nlopian, divorced Seam the eal world around 1s ‘You know what? It is rather Iate in life for me to change. So here it ix The only sane way for ‘ward; like my goad friend Umar Aftab snpgested fon sociall media, isto have a gemine and cred ble truth and reconciliation process, modelled after the Bishop Desmond Tutwled South fvicin ctarelse ‘There is no other way: All parties, civilian oF crherwise, who consider themeclves players or Contenders in the power game being played in the county teday can eithir move towards such {2 process, or stay adamant in remaining where they are “The only thing Hean say with certainty is that the Seatus quo guarantees mutually assured destruction. Not of the Cold War type, of course, bat with broadly similar consequences Yor the power aspirants. There will be no spoils after This war is avers only losers. ‘And among the various powar playors in this blighted land of ours, the biggest burden will ‘again fall on those who claim the mantle of dom: ‘ocrats for themselves. The process needs 10 be Inisiated and initioted now in earnest, and needs robe steered by those Inthe country who remain ‘redible, trustworthy and now-coutroverstal hi may not be among us anymore, but there aro others. If you ak mo, I ean count a dozen people, a least, sr not more. Tam wire, so can-yom Tn fret, each onc of use dear up ose oven Uist know suggesting a uth and recanelliation exer cise in seh a wonnded, fragmented society isnt utopia Tralee know that expecting, both oar power Ihungey oF perpetually powerdranle often exo driven naxeissistic players to sit around a table indeed be ulopiarie. "At tis stan, ther beak Tey auteina ater ea visualise is thls rot lasting far another 12, possi bly 18 months, What then? The power players don’t care, You anid [don't count The witer i former adtorof awn. abbas.nasir@hotmall.comBY MUHAMMAD AMIR RANA IP all started with the nationwide anspension ‘of mobile phone sorviess on election day. Poll managers might not have realise that this ss- ‘Detsain would eagravete palitical chs wise ‘Conld load towards.a demand for fresh elections. “Though the caretaker government claimed! it hhad suspended ‘mobile phone services due to sceurity concerns, the Election Commission and Other sonecrned departments and miristrics sere reportedly unseare a day before the elec. ion whether a suspension would be necessary. "This contusion fuelled debate that the results could have been manipulated under the (Ge of Hr traementions Eheckort Whileriaging charges and election day requ: larities are aor new in Pakistan, the dust usually ‘stttles after a few weeks, with political parties ‘and losing candidates making compromises ‘Only a few continue thelr legal battles In 2013, the PTI launched massive antbrigging cai ‘paign, maintaining pressure on the government through protests. With the pell managers on their ‘ido, they wore confident of eventualiy coming to rwer, Meanwhile, the PMILCN corntiened tee Inna compromised manne: ‘Thomanagers igemed to believe that the polit: ical feevour would subside alter tie formation of thesares soverninent WHAM we Eoey moc te rary appeasement, tampering. with election Fosults weakens the country’s power structures ‘tnd crodos publle faith the sytam. As seholar ‘Adil Najam rightly points ovt, i isnot the econ ‘omy but theloss of Taith in the stateby citizens that ie the biggest challenge emersine from th ‘lection. “Tho security concerns wore genuine as general elections loomed: Islamist militants and Balch ‘neargents had Intensified their attacks ro dis ruptand discredit the democratic process From Feb 1 co Feb 9, 36 out of 63 reparted terrorist “attacks were directly linked to lection violence Most of these attacks ocenrtes! in Ialochistsn' central "and Makean regions and Pakhtua Sominaced districts. While threats persisted In ‘Dera Ismail Khaw and Nort Waziristan in KP, those largely mirrored previoustrends. “Tho pattern of threats was clear, with Kent fied territories sand Known locations of hell ‘ened visk. Law-enforcement agencies knew the intensity of attacks and could have devised sect rity plans accordingly. However, shutting dow mobile services tationwide appeared wnneces Sary and potentially detrimental to the deme cratic exareiss, Despite the suspension of the ‘mobile phone services, the ferrorisesmanaged 11 ftacks in the higrrisk areas mentioned The state has invested heavily in developing ccaittertarrortaes tufrpateachares nck ated departments, steht Terrorism Authority, and forces. I these institutions cannot formulate 2S compreherinive security plan for elections, the State and incoming parliament must eritieally analyse thelr performance and. resource allocation. Tewas alarming that just after the pols the 1rPlasued a starementaddressingthe [ULE and JJamaat--Islami to say that te manipulated dem ‘cratic system would 1ot allow religious partics to come to porter. Tho right path, according to ‘thom, wa ta join their rante to topple the systomm land Ling Talibareat ye system to the cownt. While the TTPS stance is not new and does no Lkely inspire the religious partios' leadership, their statement Iuels the ongoing discourse on the cousteys power elites Malock insets share similar views, asserting tat the manipue Tated electoral process will not heal the Baloch peoples wounds ‘At thie jumeture in history, Pakistan needed the ‘most transparent elections ever fheld 10 fore the people's faith in the system, Some speculate that the poll managere ware following Sidilferont template, where partice and individ als showing resistance to the salus qilo were ‘deemed unacceprable. “Etablishmonts often focus on imposing order, froquontly at the expense of political and social onder, They may beliove that order brityps disc Dline and stability to society and governance, but they always neglect to consider how their policies ‘erode thelr legitimacy to impose onder. At lesst te perception is deepening in Balochistan, whore nationalist parties have becime alicnared, targeted by insure victims of the poll manager rari Blackout to backlash At this juncture in history, Pakistan needed the most transparent elections ever held. Malik Siraj, a US-based journalist, has analysed the state's approach in. Balochistan well, To Seseribes how the establishment and caretaker government brought the provines bck to the Musharraf era, when Baloch allenatian peaked. ie anos that the situstion will negravare if someone like Sarfrer Tngr, who shares that mindset, is brought to power in the province This wonld erode the confidence the’ previews government had tried to rebuikd Tris naw elear that a politician who sensed the changing political winds was Maulana Pazlur [Rehman He tealised this was the right time to lige himself witly the: rapidly growing nt (etablishment sentiment. Ina TV interview an private channel, he claimed that the ne-conf= ence motion that ousted former prime minister Iman Kian vas tabled on the directives of for mer army chief Gen Qarmar Javed Bajwa. He fur {her claimed that he opposed the no-confidence move, While his claim has been contested, it paved the way for him to join the PTEled anti Sstablishment camp. Mearihile, he has secured Si provincial araiatn Hataclcatan, enpdcitiegethe riguing narrative. | Quelta-based journalists believe that the maulana's mandate ie different from the JULF's actual electoral strength ot tho round ‘Maulana Fazlur Reliman has skillfully: mare aged to break the leo with his longtime nemesis, Bur tio Ioagovity af dais relationship remains 13 be determined. Should the establishment and {neoming government make a tempting offer, he ‘might readily Join them. Conversely he cont es to play tho anci-ostablishment card. In that caso, any alliance with the establishment would etait higher costs than the benefits of shared power arthe centre and i Balochistan. "The political crisis soems entrenched, with no Immediate ond in sight. One potential path for Ward lies with the new government. By acting jdicionsly and independently, it cnn rebuild public trust. However, political actors remain. paralysed, unwilling to move without the estab: Bahment’s tacit spproval. “This isthe bigzesterisis Pakistan faces. The witeris a security analyst.