General Musharaf has been able to conduct the second non party local government elections in his six year rule. The election results are not shocking for all those who know some thing about Pakistani politics. As expected the general’s party has won most of the seats in that non party elections. The opposition parties have alleged the government for rigging but election commission and government saying that the elections were held in a fair and transparent manner.
Non Party Elections
These elections were held on non party basis. It was not the first time that local bodies’ elections were held on non party basis. All the Military generals since 1958 has used this tactics to weaken the political parties and to strengthen their military rule. Generals loves these non party local elections. General Ayub Khan, General Zia-ul-Haq and now general Musharaf held the local bodies elections on non party basis. The main purpose of non party election is to weaken the political parties and political culture and to promote Biradariism(clans) , Sectarianism, tribalism, and other divisions. Generals love basic democracy and always tried to transfer some powers to the local level, just to divert the attention from their absolute powers. The military dictators which enjoy all the powers and authority want to deceive the masses through this fabricated election dramas. Non party elections served their interest better. General Ayub Khan organized the local bodies elections in 1962 to gave civilian and democratic cover to his military dictatorship. General Zia-ul-Haq held 3 non party local elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987 to strengthen his military rule and weaken the political parties. Now General Musharaf following the same path. General Musharaf held first local government elections in 2000-2001 under the devolution plan. The results are showing that these elections have served the purpose well as it has further depoliticized the society.
Low Turn Out
The turn out in these elections were very low, which was held in two phases on 18th and 25th August. The election commission has announced that the turn out was 48%, which no body believes except government and election commission. The turn out in Karachi was 25.6% and 22% in Lahore. The turn out was not more than 30%. Even in Baluchistan the turn out was 17%. In every election the election commission has to increase the turn out to give the election more credibility and legitimacy. The low turn out clearly shows that the masses have lost their confidence in the electoral process. They are not interested to cast their votes because they know it will not make any difference. Every body knows that the military will decide the out come and will rig the elections. More and more people are abstaining from the voting. Specially the working class has lost its hopes with the elections. The turn out was even low in the working class areas. There was no general enthusiasm in the public. The only active people in these elections were relatives and friends of the candidates. In some areas political workers were also active in the support of their candidates. But state machinery was the most active to support the ruling party candidates.
Violence and Rigging
These were the bloodiest elections in the history of Pakistan. More than 74 people were killed and more than 800 injured. The election related violence is continued even after the elections. Many people have been killed because they did not cast their votes in favor of the influential candidates. Specially in the rural areas these local elections always become the starting point of long time enmities among the different clans and groups. This sort of enmities take 5000 life’s every year just in Punjab province. In some areas like Dera Ghazi Khan and Gujrat, the polling staff was abducted and tortured to get the favorable results.
The most debated issue during and after the elections is rigging. All the opposition parties are alleging the government for rigging. Even the government ministers are complaining about the rigging. It is no secret that rigging is the essential part of the elections in Pakistan. It has become a tradition. The government uses all the means possible to won the elections. The government backed candidates can use violence and power to make it sure that they must win. The pre poll rigging is very important for securing a victory. Bogus voters lists, bogus and duplicate voting are normal practices in Pakistan. The provincial governments in Punjab and Sindh used full state force to win the elections. Even the candidates of opposition parties were forced to withdraw from elections to use their close relatives which are working in different provincial and federal departments. These government officials were threatened to be dismissed from their jobs if their relatives decided to contest against the government backed candidates. Development funds were also used to get votes for ruling party candidates.
Political Parties and Election Alliances
All the political parties contested these non party elections, but not on party name, as all parties form different groups. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) form the prosper Pakistan group, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Peoples friend group, Jamat-i- Islami (JI) Al khidmat group, so all the parties formed these groups on national level.
The PPP, JI and PML-N formed the alliance in Punjab, but many areas these parties also made alliance with ruling party. All the parties gave tickets (although it was non party) to influential candidates with big clans and tribe. All the parties prefer the rich candidates. It was almost impossible to differentiate the candidates, because they were contesting on the same programme that in fact means no programme. The election campaign was almost non political and personal. It has become very difficult to differentiate different political parties on basis of their programme and ideology. This process has confused the working class and masses. It has become more and more clear to the working masses that these parties have no programme and ideology, but the greed to get the power to plunder the state resources. Now the situation has worsened as the election for district mayors and town mayors are coming close. The newly elected councilors and local mayors will elect the district mayors and town mayors on 6th October. The Fundamentalist hard line Jamat-e Islami has made alliance with “Progressive” Awami national Party(ANP) in NWFP province. The “Progressive” PPP-S(Pakistan Peoples party Sherpao which is an ally of Musharaf) has formed alliance with Fathers of Taliban Jamiat –ulmai-Islam (JUI) and PPP in NWFP. During the elections these groups fought against each other but now to get power they have united.
The results in Sindh are shocking for the PPP, as it has lost in its strong hold. Even the PPP has lost election in the home constituency of Benazir Bhutto. PPP has lost in almost all the districts of Sindh. PPP also failed to put up a good show in Punjab. PPP has lost a much ground in Punjab. PPP is really in serious trouble. In many districts the PPP failed to put candidates. It is true that government intervention has caused lot of problems for PPP, but it is also true that these results also reflects the reaction against the pro American, anti working class policies of the leadership. PPP has completely transformed itself into a capitalist party. PPP leaders always rely on big feudal lords and rich people. The PPP leadership has long ago lost the confidence in working class.
The MMA (the alliance of religious parties) has suffered heavily in these elections. The main two parties of the alliance had contested the election against each other. Jamat-e –Islami has lost election in its strong hold Dir against PPP and ANP. Jamiat-ulmai-Islam
Has lost to ANP in its strong hold Tank. ANP Has emerged as single largest gainer in these elections. Fundamentalist parties have lost lot of ground against ANP (the Pashtun Nationalist party) since the last general elections in 2002. The fractions between JI and JUI have also widened.
The ruling PML-Q has emerged as the largest party in Baluchistan, thanks to the tribal chiefs and state machinery. The Baluch nationalist parties have shown their strength in Makran coastal belt. JUI has also won the majority in 6 districts, mainly in Pashtun speaking areas.
The ruling PML-Q is in serious crises. The ministers are accusing each other for rigging.
The situation is very serious in Punjab. The chief minister and provincial president of PML-Q want to become prime minister in the next general elections. He is developing his own group in the province and wants to weak the opposition in the ruling party. This has led to the situation in which many groups have emerged in the ruling party and they are openly fighting with each other.
Over all these results shows that military has comfortable majority to elect the maximum
District and town mayors, who are vital to won the 2007 general elections. The military establishment is preparing in advance for the elections. The possibility of early general elections in the end of 2006 can not be ruled out. The establishment has developed a new strategy for these elections. The emergence of ANP in NWFP is part of that strategy.
The military establishment is also worried about the results in the cities in Punjab, where opposition showed its strength. Despite the rigging the government candidates have lost in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad and other cities.
The working class has experienced both the democracy and military dictatorships, which has failed to solve the basic problems. The ruling class has failed to even establish the bourgeois democracy and abolish the feudalism. The ruling class has shown its inability to solve basic problems. Both the experiences of controlled democracy and military dictatorships have miserably failed. These elections once again raise the question of working class alternative. No such alternate exist at this stage, which means that working class has no independent political voice. Working class needs its own political party. A revolutionary mass party of the working class can over through this repressive capitalism and establishes workers democracy and planned economy. Socialism will provide the basis for a true democracy and democratic traditions.
Khalid Bhatti translated from the SMP paper “SOCIALIST”
Good results for Socialist Movement
Socialist Movement members contested the elections in different areas on workers program. 15 Socialist Movement and Trade Union Rights Campaign members contested the elections, in which 11 have won and 4 lost. We can not say that all those who voted for SMP members, voted for Socialism in clear terms. The reason is that they were not contesting as SMP candidates on clear Socialist program. They do contested election as a working class candidate with anti-privatization program. Most of them used the TURCP program. But still it is the best result achieved by any left party in Pakistan. We also supported some sympathizers. SMP members have got 15000 votes.
8 comrades have won from Karachi and one each from Dadu, Shikarpur and Dir.
The details of votes are as,
Karachi
1- Amir Alam Labour councilor 867 votes
2- Zuhra Bano Labour councilor 1023 votes
3- Amanullah Khan General councilor 1084 votes
4- Nafees Labour councilor 751 votes
5- Kishan Minority councilor 1056 votes
6- Hamza chandio General councilor 1175 votes
7- Allah dino Labour councilor 894 votes
8- Sadiq Hussain Labour Councilor 981 votes
9- Ibrar Khan Lost 655 votes
10- Hanif usmani Lost 835 votes
DADU
11- Muhammad Ibrahim General Councilor 1287 votes
Shikar Pur
12- Riaz jatoi Labour councilor 916 votes
13- Sanjay Kumar Lost 694 votes
Ghotki
14- Ram Kumar Lost 471 votes
Dir, KPK
15- Hashim Jan Local Mayor 2362 votes