A Personal
Account of the Local Bodies Polls
By Dr Shireen M Mazari
Thirteen years after my father's
death, I witnessed another member of my family contest
an election but there were many differences this
time round. First, it was a female member of the
family (my younger sister) which was a major social
upheaval for the area; and, second, this was not
a parliamentary but a Union Council election. That
is why it was a far more intensely personal experience.
The decision taken by my sister initially had some
family members up in arms because it was unheard
of that a woman from the family should contest the
Union Council Nazim election. Then a compromise
was suggested with the opposition to ensure a "dignified"
no-contest result. But the whole idea was to break
the feudal mode and work at the grassroots level
to ensure development of the area so the compromise
was out. There were whispered comments about how
the Balochis would never vote for a woman. In the
end our assessment proved more correct -- that people
simply want someone who understands their problems
and will work to better the area. Since my sister,
along with my mother, is not an absentee feudal
but lives in the area and undertakes her own agricultural
work, she had an advantage and her gender did not
prove to be a disadvantage.
As for all the statements coming in the media and
from the politicians about support for local candidates
from different groups and parties, we certainly
did not experience this. In fact, my sister's decision
to contest was a reaction to thirteen years of neglect
by those our village supported with thousands of
votes to various seats -- from the Union Council
to the National and Provincial elections. All the
Mazaris and Dreeshaks never bothered to look across
the river from Rajanpur city to help, in any way,
the small enclave of Union Council 40, Bangla Ichha,
Rajanpur, on the East Bank of the River Indus.
Of course, the fact that to communicate directly
with Rajanpur city from Bangla Ichha requires a
journey through Sindh into Kashmore and then across
the dangerous Mazari-Bugti firing line, is a major
deterrent which keeps local officials away from
our area. Even at the time of floods, hardly any
official from Rajanpur bothers to traverse across
to this outpost of the district.
This physical divide also played a role in the period
leading up to the elections when the DCO was hardly
available on the telephone -- especially in the
last two days before the polling -- to deal with
the tactical problems relating to the polling. One
major issue was the location of polling stations
because the authorities were following the last
LB list and some of these locations were not in
a state to act as polling stations anymore. For
instance, one had been inundated with floodwater
while another had a roof missing. But it was impossible
to tell the Additional Sessions Judge sitting in
Rajanpur city that. As he put it: "I have now
given my orders and cannot change them!" Of
course, if he had visited the area he would have
realized the situation on the ground. The net result
was that we began polling day with confusion over
the location of one polling station -- luckily the
water had gone down somewhat in the other location.
But this was merely the start of our troubles. After
going through the whole process, it was clear to
me that we won the elections in spite of the Election
Commission, not because of its arrangements. To
begin with, the voters' lists were from the 2001
LB polls. Since then, the lists had been updated
for the 2002 general elections but these lists were
not used. When I asked the Additional Secretary
of the Election Commission in charge of the complaint
cell why the more updated lists were not being used,
he informed me with this response: "Because
the local body elections are different from the
general elections!" Of course he assumed I
was a total idiot not to know this difference. But,
I informed him, the voters were the same for our
area. His answer was simply that this was the rule
and in any case the 2001 lists had been updated.
This was a load of nonsense because there had been
absolutely no updating of these lists, which were
in a chaotic state. The result was that, at least
300 of our supporters and potential voters with
valid NID cards were disenfranchised.
At one point one thought that this would actually
tilt the balance, but luckily for us, the average
voter in the village was equally fed up of the underdevelopment
inflicted upon them by the elected representatives
of the past. But the Election Commission officers,
sitting in the ivory towers of Islamabad, were of
no help at all. The complaint cell may as well not
have existed. In fact, the officer there did tell
us that he only took complaints but there was another
section that was actually dealing with the elections.
So one was handed one phone number after another
and as calling from our village is not very easy,
one gave up in disgust after a while.
Nor was it just the outdated and incomplete voters'
lists that were the problem. There was also the
issue of the ID cards. Having realized much earlier
on that many people did not have ID cards, my mother
and sister contacted NADRA and were impressed to
see the relevant personnel arrive and complete the
procedures for the new ID cards. But then they suddenly
disappeared despite being told about the need to
provide these cards before Election Day. So the
result was that NADRA failed to deliver the cards
in time.
With all these bureaucratic issues, it was a pleasant
surprise to find a most pleasant and sensible polling
staff. Courteous and willing to listen, they stuck
to the rules despite bullying by opposition toughies.
That in itself was no mean achievement. The presence
of the army in the background was also a major reason
no untoward action took place by the rather rough
opposition.
At the end of it all, the most outstanding feature
of the elections was the commitment of the voters
who withstood hours of heat and dust, and walked
many miles -- since the police had confiscated all
modes of public transport barring tractor trolleys
-- to cast their vote. They were undeterred by the
complicated and rather absurd voting system which
comprised five separate ballot papers with numerous
symbols. Surely the system needs to be simplified
and made more rational? Apart from anything else,
the actual procedure took rather long and caused
confusion because the ballot papers had to be ripped
from five different booklets which required each
voter to put his/her thumbprint on all five before
being allowed to cast vote.
That is why the most remarkable feature of these
elections was the enthusiasm and political commitment
of the voters. As long as they continue to remain
politically savvy -- and they certainly were --
the future of democracy in this country is assured
despite the odds.
(The writer is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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