The Pakistani General Election of 2013 will be the next election to the 14th parliament of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has announced elections to be held on 11 May 2013. In the general election, voting will take place in all parliamentary constituencies of Pakistan, to elect Members to seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament and to the four Provincial Assemblies (Punjab Assembly,Sind Assembly, Baluchistan Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly). 

Vote or not?: Overseas voters wait and watch

Voters waiting to find out if they can cast a vote. DESIGN: EMA ANIS

KARACHI: May 11 has got every Pakistani excited. But the 4.5 million voters who live outside the country and make a significant contribution to the economy continue to wonder anxiously whether they would get to exercise their constitutional right or not.

With only days to go before the polls, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which has dragged its feet on the matter for two years, is about to abort the e-voting option. The belaboured process added to the confusion of Pakistanis living abroad, some of whom do not even know where they would be casting their votes if a system is miraculously set up at the last minute.

“I really wanted to vote, so did my husband, and we were hoping something could be arranged in the embassy. But, unfortunately, I do not think that will be possible,” UAE-based Beenum Mansoor said.

Many of those who responded to a questionnaire by The Express Tribune said they did not know where they had to go in their current country of residence to vote.

Others said that they were relying on the Pakistani news media for information about progress the ECP has made in ensuring voting for those living overseas. Amber in Toronto, when asked if she had contacted anyone at the Pakistani mission there, said she had, and described the response only as “lost”. Tariq Qureshi in Las Vegas was critical of the attitude of personnel at the mission he contacted.

This is not the only problem for some overseas Pakistanis. While those living in cities with either consulates or embassies said that it would take them up to 30 minutes to drive to the polling stations, others said they may have to fly out to the nearest consulate to be able to vote. Sagheer Ahmad in Australia said “It’s a two hours flight to Canberra from the Gold Coast, costing at least $500.”

Practical concerns

Missions abroad still await a final verdict on the issue, and are concerned about when the systems will be put in place and their staff trained for the polls.

Till Wednesday, none of the missions that The Express Tribune spoke to had received any instructions from Islamabad.

“It would be quite difficult to put in place the system developed by NADRA in the missions abroad well in time,” said Ghulam Haider, the press attaché at the Berlin embassy.

Haider added that those NICOP holders registered with the ECP may be extended the postal ballot facility.

“If the system is put in place well in time, which is by the end of this month, the officials in the Embassy will be able to cope with the situation,” he said.

In Ottawa, the press counselor Nazia Khalid said that the Canadian government had given its consent to enable “Pakistani expatriate community to cast their ballot on election day.” Necessary arrangements, she said, have been made at the four missions in Canada.

The Pakistani consul general in Dubai, Tariq Soomro, was also confident that, even if they received a green signal a fortnight before elections, they would be able to get all systems in place. “It depends on when NADRA trains and sends officials,” he said.

Soomro said that they will be setting up 20 polling booths at the consulate, while 20 others would be set up at the embassy in Abu Dhabi. With 1.3 million expatriates living in UAE, he said additional polling stations will be set up at the Pakistani schools in Shahrjah and Fujeirah. 

How to vote for overseas Pakistanis

E-Voting

An untested electronic voting system that was developed by NADRA.

ECP was considering installing these e-voting systems for overseas voters.

Postal ballots

One can vote through a postal ballot paper.

These have so far only been made available to government officials, those serving in the armed forces or the police posted away from their home constituencies and to prisoners. Last date to apply is April 25.

Stat attack

•  10 is the number of countries where the ECP said it will set up polling stations

•  4.5 million is the number of registered overseas Pakistani voters

•  3.9 million registered overseas Pakistani voters live in the Middle East

•  2.9 million registered overseas Pakistani voters live in Saudi Arabia and UAE alone

Elections on May 11

 

ISLAMABAD - President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday announced that general elections for the National Assembly will be held on May 11, ending speculations about the day of political judgement.

The 342-member national assembly stood dissolved on completion of its five-year term on March 16 and the vote is expected to produce first transition from one civilian government to another in country’s 66-year existence.

Spokesperson to President Senator Farhatullah Babar said the president announced the date shortly after he received prime minister’s summary the same day who advised for announcing a suitable date in terms of Article 48 (1) of the constitution and other relevant statutory provisions.

It was not immediately clear if the polls for four provincial assembles would also be held on May 11. However, a senior government official told The Nation that provincial elections would also be held on the same day. He denied there was any difference between the political parties that might change the election date for the provincial assemblies, adding that respective provincial governors would announce the date for provincial polls.

Presidential spokesperson said that Section 11 (1) of the Representation of the People Act 1976 says, “As soon as may be necessary and practicable‚ the president makes an announcement of the date or dates on which the polls shall be taken‚ the election commission‚ not later than thirty days of such announcement shall‚ by notification in the official gazette‚ call upon a constituency to elect a representative or representatives.”

The election commission is believed to have finalised the election schedule but details were not immediately released. A parliamentary committee has until Friday to select a candidate to head a caretaker administration. It was given the job after major ruling party, PPP, and main opposition PML-N failed to reach a consensus on a name by Tuesday.

The vote will mark the first time an elected civilian government hands over power to another in a country that has seen three military coups and four military rulers since independence in 1947. But Taliban attacks and record levels of violence have raised fears about security for the polls in the nuclear-armed country of 180 million, a key but troubled US ally.

Political analyst Hasan Askari said that by setting a date, the president had gone some way towards curbing conspiracy theories about a possible delay. “The dust should settle now... it is clear the election will be held but distrust or doubts will go away when the caretaker prime minister is chosen,” he said.

President Zardari’s PPP and the opposition PML-N led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif are likely to dominate the race, while former cricket star Imran Khan’s PTI, which has seen a meteoric rise over past couple of years, will compete in the general elections for the first time. Zardari and assassinated former PM Benazir Bhutto’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is co-chairman of the PPP but he cannot contest elections because he will not reach the minimum age of 25 until September.

Sixty seats in the national assembly are reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslim minorities. Under reforms introduced by the outgoing government, political parties can for the first time contest elections in the tribal belt along the Afghan border where army is fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. There are no seats reserved for women in the tribal belt.

Once the national and provincial governments are formed, federal and regional lawmakers will elect a new president. Analysts praise Zardari for lasting the course, passing key legislation and relinquishing his powers to strengthen democracy, but say his rule has been marked by chronic mismanagement, worse kind of corruption, economic decline and worsening security.

 They credit his full term not just his wheeler-dealer talents, but also the army chief’s determination to keep to the sidelines and the opposition’s unwillingness to force early elections.

Karachi, the largest city and business hub, is suffering from record killings, with more than 2,000 dead in 2012. The government did little to end a crippling energy crisis or introduce desperately needed tax reforms. Ministers have been tainted by accusations of brazen corruption. After the elections, Pakistan is expected to have little option but to seek another bailout package from the IMF, given its yawning budget deficit.

PTI Jalsa & Start Of Election Campaign On 23rd March

    

Chief of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan.—File Photo

 

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan says party’s election campaign will start with the swearing-in of newly elected PTI office-bearers at Minar-i-Pakistan on March 23.

Talking to the media at the office of newly elected Lahore chapter President Abdul Aleem Khan on Sunday, Imran said March 23 would prove to be another tsunami to end the rule of status quo forces.

He alleged both the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz were spending millions of rupees from the public kitty on their respective publicity and election campaigns.

Taking credit for introducing intra-party polls, he said the PTI had made history by going into the exercise and the new leadership would now run the party’s election campaign. Rejecting the impression of irregularities in the polls, Imran said his party took 10 months before these elections to ensure transparency. He termed it an example for the Election Commission, which would conduct the general elections.

Answering a question, he said strict discipline would be adopted in awarding party tickets as only upright candidates would be chosen to bring ‘real change’.Earlier, the PTI chairman was briefed by Aleem Khan about the arrangements for the party’s March 23 public meeting.

Meanwhile, the third stage of PTI intra-party polls to elect regional-level leaders would start here from Monday (today). District leaders of the party elected in the second stage would become electorates for electing office-bearers of four Punjab regions — north, south, west and central.

Nominations would be received today and could be withdrawn on March 5 (tomorrow), and the final list of candidates would be issued the same day. Polling for the third tier of intra-party polls in which a 30-member body is to be elected would be held on March 10.

This body would then elect provincial office-bearers in the fourth stage of the polls.

Symbols Allotted To Political Parties By Election Commission Of Pakistan

ECP allots election symbols: Arrow under conflict

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Tuesday allotted election symbols to 144 political parties for the general elections, but the Pakistan Peoples Party was not among them.

It so happened because three party factions have claimed that they are the real PPP and hence should be given the arrow as election symbol.

The Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Ghinwa Bhutto’s PPP-Shaheed Bhutto and the Naheed Khan-led party have all claimed their parties to be the actual PPP.

The ECP asked all three to appear before it on March 25 with relevant proof to back their stances.

Ghinwa’s lawyer had previously based his claim on heredity laws, saying her son (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior) was the true heir of PPP’s founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Naheed Khan, a close aid to the late Benazir Bhutto, had recently moved the election authorities to register a new party with the name PPP and had argued that the PPP that contested the 2002 and 2008 elections had done so as PPPP.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the co-Chairman of the PPP as per the purported will of Benazir. However, under legal status this party is registered as the PPPP and not PPP.

Sources in ECP said under the law, it was likely that PPPP would be allotted the arrow as it contested the last two elections under the same symbol. But they added it would be difficult for them to stop Naheed’s faction getting registered as PPP as she was the first one to apply for the name after the ruling party opted for the PPPP name.

Since Ghinwa’s faction is already registered as PPP-Shaheed Bhutto and has contested past elections on another symbol, her plea is likely to be rejected, sources said.

On the other hand, most of the other mainstream political parties were given their traditional symbols. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was allotted the tiger. Muttahida Qaumi Movement got the kite symbol, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid the cycle and Jamaat-i-Islami the scale. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will contest the elections under the bat symbol.

Likewise, Awami National Party retained the symbol of lantern and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional got the symbol rose.

Another controversy brewed when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam -F was allotted the closed book by the ECP, as opposed to an open book it actually wanted. The matter will now be decided by the Islamabad High Court

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan’s party Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan was allotted the missile.

Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League will contest the elections under the eagle symbol.

Former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad’s Awami Muslim League Pakistan was given the inkpot with a pen symbol.

Balochistan National Party got its traditional symbol of axe. Balochistan National Party-Awami got the camel.

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party was allotted the tree symbol.

The most sought after symbols of sun and crescent went to the Pakistan Christian Movement and Hazara Democratic Party respectively through a draw. Sunni Ittehad Council won the symbol of horse through the draw.

Pakistan General Election, 2013

 

The Pakistani General Election of 2013 will be the next election to the 14th parliament of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has announced elections to be held by May. In the general election, voting will take place in all parliamentary constituencies of Pakistan, to elect Members to seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament and to the four Provincial Assemblies (Punjab Assembly,Sindh Assembly, Baluchistan Assembly and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly). The current National and Provincial Assemblies will complete its constitutional term on or before March 16, 2013, five years after the first session of the National Assemblies elected during the 2008 general election. Elections must be subsequently held within 60 days of parliament having been dissolved.This will be the 11th general election for Pakistan since 1962, and potentially marks the first successful democratic transition between two elected governments. As of March, the Election Commission of Pakistan has put final touches to its preparations for the upcoming general elections. And one of those tasks was to procure over 500,000 ballot boxes and all relevant materials. The commission has also decided to employ the services of retired judges of the high court as permanent election tribunals in order to expedite the disposal of election-related cases. The commission will be appointing five tribunals in Punjab and three each in other provinces. Buildings are being hired for offices of these tribunals.

This election will mark an end to the third PPP lead government and the only democratic government to finish its term. For the general elections, the socialist-oriented PPP has allied with PML(Q), while on the conservative side, the PML has allied with PML(F) and Sunni Tehreek. Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan lead centrist PTI has allied with the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami in the North western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while it will contest elections without any political ally in other three provinces.85.04 million registered voters in the country will elect close to 1000 members of the National and Provincial assemblies of Pakistan, who will further elect the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the national level and the Chief Ministers of Pakistan at the provincial level. On March 17, 2013 The National Assembly stood dissolved on completion of its five-year term under Article-52 of the Constitution.While the provincial assemblies are likely to be dissolved on 19th. The largest number of voters who will vote in the upcoming elections are within the 31 to 40 years age bracket. According to statistics available at the Election Commission’s website, 23.58% out of the total 87.5 million voters are of ages between 31 and 40 years while the second largest group of voters is between the ages of 18 and 25.