Proportional Voting
By Khalid A.
London, UK
Britain is going for a referendum on the issue of new voting system to be adopted in future elections. It is well known that the present system is unfair and undemocratic. We also use the same system in Pakistan.
Under the present system (First Past the Post), usually in any constituency, a candidate with a tally of about 30% of the votes cast, wins the seat. As about 50% of the voters never turn up, the winner receives only about 15% of the total listed votes and yet he/she claims to be the representative of 100% of the people.
Another sad aspect of the said system is as follows: Suppose, a political party such as Tehrik e Insaf, attains 10% of the votes cast all over the country, but as their supporters are scattered all over Pakistan, they will probably get no seat at all. On the contrary, in all fairness they should be getting 10% of the total number of seats, and they will get these seats if the system of Proportional Representation is adopted. This system is used in several countries, e.g. South Africa, Brazil, Finland and Holland.
It will be a refreshing change if we explore the possibility of adopting the system of Proportional Representation or one of its variants. Let us throw away a few old skeletons.
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