An election march for the People's Party in Karachi (French)

The date of the general elections in Pakistan, scheduled to be held on February 8, is approaching, to choose 266 members in the National Council and 593 members in the provincial parliaments. According to the Pakistani constitution, the party that has the majority in the elected parliament forms the government and obtains the confidence of the National Council, and parliaments are also elected. Regions Prime Ministers in regional governments for five years.

The most prominent parties running in these elections are the Muslim League Party led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the People's Party led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari, in addition to the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The current poll is considered one of the most controversial elections in the history of Pakistan since its founding in 1947. It was scheduled to take place last November, but was postponed to this February for reasons said to be related to the redistribution of electoral districts.

Lack of popular participation

Despite the importance of the electoral event, which comes amid difficult political and economic conditions facing Pakistan, observers believe that the traditional enthusiasm and passion during election campaigns is weak this time, and electoral events and festivals lacked the heavy public attendance and usual vitality in most cities.

Perhaps one of the most prominent reasons for the lack of enthusiasm among Pakistani voters is the absence of serious competition in these elections. The opposition leader and former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is detained and out of electoral competition, and was not allowed to run and run in the elections.

A ruling was also issued to withdraw the traditional electoral symbol “cricket bat” from his party, which prompted the party to ask its candidates to run in the elections as independent candidates, and this reduces the chances of the party winning the elections. In addition, dozens of party leaders and candidates were subjected to arrest and trials.

Pakistani political analyst Dhigham Khan believes that "electoral competition is necessary for the existence of enthusiasm and strong popular participation in electoral festivals, but this competition does not exist this time."

Speculation about integrity

One of the reasons why electoral festivals lost their usual vitality is the presence of many speculations and rumors about the integrity of the electoral process, which made Pakistani voters less enthusiastic about participating in electoral events and festivals.

In this context, Pakistani writer Taher Mehdi describes the upcoming elections as “engineered,” while Abid Hussein, in his article on the Al Jazeera English website, goes further, and describes the upcoming elections as “the first in a list of elections in which tampering occurred in the history of Pakistan’s tortuous democracy.” ".

One of the reasons for the apathy is the Pakistani street’s lack of confidence in the feasibility of the political process to solve the country’s problems, given the repeated failure of political leaders to extricate Pakistan from the economic and security crises that are ravaging it.

This is confirmed by political analyst Dhigham Khan, who said, "The country is currently going through a political crisis, and the people believe that elections do not solve their problems."

Some analysts attribute the weak popular participation in election festivals and events to the existence of speculation about holding the elections in the first place, despite the approaching date.

Qamar Al-Zaman Kayra - one of the candidates and a leader of the People's Party led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari - said in press statements, "People ask us whether the elections will be held? We tell them: There is no apparent reason to postpone the elections."

Security threats

The security situation also plays a role in the coolness of electoral events. As the election date approaches, Pakistan is witnessing an escalation in the activity of armed groups, especially in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where military operations and bombings took place, claimed by armed groups opposed to the Pakistani government, despite the tightening of security measures to maintain maximum levels. Security days before the elections.

In this context, it is noteworthy that during the past year, Pakistan witnessed 664 armed attacks of different sizes and types, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, which indicates an increase of 67% compared to the year 2022.

On the fifth of this month, the Pakistani Senate issued a resolution calling on the High Election Commission in Pakistan to postpone the holding of general elections in the country due to security threats and fears threatening the lives of candidates, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The Council’s basis for the resolution was warnings issued by security services in this regard. .

The pace of escalation reached the point of closing schools and universities in the capital, Islamabad, due to security concerns last week, and this step came to increase the uncertainty of the situation, according to the Express Tribune newspaper published from Karachi.

In its report on the security risks associated with elections in Pakistan, the British newspaper “Financial Times” reported that a Western diplomatic source in Islamabad referred to the killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election campaign in the city of Rawalpindi in 2007, saying, “The more the election campaigns intensify, the more "The risk of terrorist attacks in Pakistan is increasing."

The government will allocate 300,000 soldiers to protect polling stations on election day (French)

Army reinforcements

Official government statements in Pakistan confirm the seriousness of the security situation. The government insists on ensuring the integrity of the elections by taking all necessary security measures to protect candidates, voters, and election officials throughout the country.

Reports published in the Pakistani media indicate that the government will allocate 300,000 soldiers to protect polling stations and ensure that the elections are held in a safe atmosphere.

Despite the challenges, the general elections in Pakistan are likely to be held on time, and in the absence of serious electoral competition, the chances of Nawaz Sharif winning and becoming prime minister for the fourth time seem greater than others.

Source: Al Jazeera