PESHAWAR: Despite cold weather conditions, the electioneering campaign has started gearing up in the country, including Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KP), where over 128.585 million registered voters, including 59.322 million females and 69.263 million males, will decide the fate of 175 political parties in the 2024 general election.
In KP, a total of 21.928 million voters, including 11.437 million males and 9.983 million females, would exercise their right of franchise in favor of their political parties and independent candidates for the next five years.
Prof Dr A H Hilali, former chairman, Political Science Department, University of Peshawar, told APP on Saturday that female voters’ role during the 2024 election would be crucial, and any political party that gets women voters’ attention would get an edge over others on February 8 polling day.
He said the low turnout among female voters remains a persistent challenge, especially in the merged tribal districts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa, the southern districts of Punjab, rural Sindh, and the Baloch belt in Balochistan.
He said that in cases of rainfall, rain, and harsh weather, bringing voters to Chitral, Dir, Swat, North Waziristan, and Parachinar districts would be a big challenge for political parties.
“I eagerly await to cast my first vote in the February 8, 2024, election,” said Sidra Qaiser, a young voter and school teacher in Nowshera district, while talking to APP.
She said casting the vote was a national obligation, and she would vote for a political party’s candidate after seeing its manifesto.
Professor Dr Hilali said all eyes would be on voter turnout in the 2024 election after the overall turnout rates for the elections in 2008, 2013, and 2018 were 45 percent, 54 percent, and 50 percent, respectively.
He said the turnout of women voters in the 2018 general elections stood at 40 percent, with 21 of the 46 million registered women voters participating in polling.
“The political parties need a lot of work to mobilize women voters, as about 40% of females vote on average, which is considerably low as per international standards.”
Besides political parties, he said ECP, civil society, and caretaker governments require stronger coordination to mobilize voters for the 2024 election.
He said people of Pakistan have seen the performance of almost all mainstream political parties including PPP, PML-N, JUI-F, ANP, JI, PTI and MQM in last two decades and voters are now closely seeing what are new in its election manifestos.
He said PPP leadership was taking credit for the BISP, the 1973 Constitution, development works in Sindh, and the 18th constitutional amendment, besides the new slogan of constructing three million houses for the poor.
He said PML-N was advocating for constructing motorways, a lowari tunnel, the restoration of peace in KP, Karachi, and atomic tests at Chagi in 1998.
Similarly, ANP was trying to attract voters about renaming NWFP as Khyber Pakthunkhwa and construction of universities in the province while PTI leadership was highlighting Sehat Card and BRT
Dr Zilakat Malik, former chairman, Economics Department, University of Peshawar, said that the 2024 election would be totally different from others because no political party was a favorite and people would decide the fate of all 175 parties on the basis of their past government performances and the implementation of election manifestos.
He claimed that the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and PTI Parliamentarians were the new parties whose leaders were in the field informing the masses about their programs and development initiatives if they were voted to power.
Dr Malik said that free and transparent elections are very important for the continuity of democracy and addressing the country’s challenges like the economy and climate change issues, besides controlling price hikes and inflation that adversely affect the common man.
He said women were about 50 percent of the country’s population, and without their active participation, elections and democracy have no meaning.
He said women participation in elections provide the citizens with uniformity managed way to voice their opinions and chose who and what is best for them.
Dr Malik said the citizens are the ultimate authority in any democracy and they can voice their opinion and reject a political party if they do not like its performance while in government in the past. The regular holding of general elections ensures better check on the performance of political parties and accountability.
The experts said that a strong participation of women voters would play a key role, especially in rural areas of Pakistan, and any candidate who got their support would get an advantage over others in the February 8, 2024 election.
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