Re-fixing the election schedule

There are two distinctly opposing perspectives to the question whether the elections should be held on schedule or put off to a later date. A postponement, if decided, would not be open-ended, in any case.
Politically, the opposition parties want that as scheduled the elections be held on January 8, but the government coalition parties are for postponement for a period varying from four weeks to 12 weeks. In an interview with CNN, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said if Iraq and Afghanistan can have elections during war why not Pakistan.
PPP's new found ally PML (N) chief Nawaz Sharif, too, wants the Election Commission of Pakistan to stick to the announced schedule. He says his latest position on the timing for the polls is dictated by his resolve to stand by the PPP as an expression of solidarity.
With only a week to go for the polls, if held on January 8, the only plausible reason behind the mainstream opposition's insistence for elections as scheduled is their judgement that riding the crest of sympathy wave unleashed by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto its candidates would make a clean sweep. Conscious of this advantage the opposition has come to enjoy in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's murder, the PML (Q) and its principal ally, the MQM, have advocated putting off the elections.
However, it is the ground reality that tends to operate as force majeure in determining the polling date. Reports suggest that among various setbacks the country suffered at the hands of vandals following the charged protests by the anguished and angered PPP workers, the electoral process ranks high. In the province of Sindh elections offices were attacked and all the record and voting material was destroyed.
In Balochistan, some 30,000 teachers who were supposed to be manning the polling stations have announced they will not turn up to perform their election duties. But the most important handicap in holding polls on time is said to be the delay in the printing of ballot papers. The printing was supposed to be completed by January 5 but the three-day mourning observed by the government derailed the plan. Since ballot printing is a specialised job and is to be carried out only at the government printing facility, it is just not possible to meet the printing deadline.
Then there is the issue of transporting the ballot papers, ballot boxes and related material, which has become problematic due to suspension of rail and road traffic to some areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Given that objective conditions militate against the possibility of meeting the January 8 deadline the Election Commission may postpone polls for some time. How much time it would require in putting the electoral process back on track, however, is the question that should be answered correctly - to the complete satisfaction of all the stakeholders.
There would be no gainsaying the assertion that elections are a mechanism to materialise the voters preferences in choosing the leaders who should lead them. In the process the candidates present themselves to the potential voters through their words both spoken and written. That requires a reasonably adequate time which was already short for the ongoing electoral exercise. Then there were mired interruptions, some dictated by holidays and others mandated by security-specific curbs.
The fact is that the voters have not been given proper opportunity to compare the merits of the candidates which is quintessential to making the correct choice. This distortion would only accentuate the problem now because the assassination of Benazir Bhutto is so enormous an issue that would grossly restrict the choice offered to the voters. It also has the inbuilt potential to inject tension into electioneering with all its frightful spillover. Such is the force of logic for delaying elections that there is keen realisation even by outsiders that given the objective conditions there would be no harm in postponing elections by a short period.
What is being insisted upon is that the postponement should not be open-ended and indefinite. Though it is the Election Commission's prerogative to fix the polling date, in view of the strong and conflicting positions taken by the parties on the two sides of the political divide its move to take them into confidence is welcome. It is hoped both sides will show political maturity in clinching an agreement on the date for the polls, for there just no alternative to evolving a consensus on this crucial issue.