I am unsure of whether I should begin by saying that I did not cast my vote in the 2008 general election, and in doing that I was part of a large segment of population that didn't go out to vote.
And when I heard on the TV biting, bitter comments from TV anchors and experts who, while the electioneering was in process, sought to crucify the citizen who does not cast his vote, it had me thinking. Is it truly unforgivable when you do not vote in a general election?
There may be no justification perhaps of a person not casting his vote, or possibly there are sound reasons of his abstaining from the polling booth, but one does need to understand the reasons why Pakistanis have been staying away from the ballot box - a fact that is proved by statistics as well.
It is not merely nonchalance or any carelessness of the voter, educated or affluent or either of the above. The Pakistani citizen, as has been proven again this time, is politically aware, and while he may appear to be apolitical he is certainly far from that. It is possible that when he does not vote it is a studied, well-considered decision not to cast his vote. It is a rejection of the system. The man who does not vote is possibly on good foundation, and acceptable ethical norms.
After all the complaints and accusations of pre poll rigging have risen with each election. This was the ninth general election in the country and one does not need to go into the issue of pre poll rigging that all the opposition parties accused the government and the Election Commission of indulging in.
I suppose each election has had its own reasons for people not going out to vote. The apathy factor, or what is often termed as the indifference of the intelligentsia, vis-a-vis general election is indeed present in varying degrees. But there are other reasons as well.
Generally speaking, that has been a constant in the country's general elections, which is somewhat of an enigma, given the sustained and deep rooted concern that citizens generally have about the poor quality of governance, corruption, lawlessness, prices, and a host of frustrations and lifestyle miseries that haunt them on a daily basis. One may like to bear in mind that the graph of voter participation was the highest in the December 1970 polls, which has steadily declined since then.
But specifically this time, the context is different and the canvass of concern for the citizen when it came to the 18th February polls was wider. There was much more to worry about. There were perceptions about election related issues that went against the election itself.
It is significant that this was an election, which had almost sixty Pakistani TV channels focused sharply on it, from a very long time, much before the election schedule was announced.
There was that much more of awareness (and psychological involvement therefore). And given the moves and manoeuvres of the political parties in the country, and the repressive measures that the Establishment kept taking from time to time (since March 2007, for instance), the Pakistani citizen's mind and heart were very much tuned into the polls theme.
But the doubts and uncertainties that kept on surfacing and tormenting the citizen, through 2007, on an agonising variety of issues (human rights, food inflation and media denials, to mention a couple) possibly had an eroding impact on the value and worth of the electoral process. The natural cynicism of a Pakistani citizen nurtured over decades is a thought that crosses the mind.
It is said that almost twenty percent of Pakistani households are not even registered as voters in the system. How effective, and comprehensive is the system is another point to be kept in mind. The efficacy and the competence of the Election Commission of Pakistan has been questioned time and again in recent weeks, by the concerned political parties and the EC's defence has been unconvincing, if anything.
It is imperative that I mention here the fear factor that has been a very relevant one this time. The fear of election related violence, and the fear of suicide bombers and remote controlled bombs going off. This was a reason that kept people indoors in many cases. Bear in mind that the insecurity factors kept scores of foreign observers from coming to Pakistan.
So the citizen who did not vote had ample reason and justification to stay out of the electoral process and spend the day watching with concern and involvement the election on the Television channels. I was one of those who did this. But this did not entirely diminish the interest in the polls. Nor was it a reflection of any lack of concern for national interest issues. Quite the contrary. For watching TV focus on political and electoral issues only serves to heighten, and widen the complexity of the relationship between the individual and society (read government and State if you will).
Indeed the elections have brought relief. And the outcome has brought a sense that the collective vote that the people have been right in their opposition to the government, whose policies were viewed with cynicism, skepticism and suspicion for quite some time.
In fact, I believe that the elections have come in as a whiff of fresh air - giving to Pakistani citizens breathing time, since the suffocation that came in March 2007, when the Supreme Court Chief Justice was sacked. From then to the 18th of this month Pakistanis have been under stress, pressure and anxiety for so many reasons there is no point in recalling here. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto was the climactic point of the hell that we have undergone.
Many thoughts come to mind as one reflects at the results that have come so far. I know many of us stocked food items and whatever else was possible, before the elections. There was anxiety and uncertainty about what could happen after the polls. There was so much of talk of widespread rigging and violence. Thank God, 19th February did not bring the trouble that was feared.
One citizen was very pertinent when he said that most of us have aged by five years in the last one year (2007), given the kind of political and psychological climate that has prevailed in Pakistan. The 18th February polls have of course brought forth an opinion that calls for a change in the system, and a referendum against dictatorship and one man's rule. Let us see where the journey takes us now.
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