The two most important factors stood at 19% and 17% on voters’ list of concern while 51% had different reasons for voting which did not include their candidates being capable of understanding national issues, nor their contribution towards development and progress in their constituencies mattered.
If this survey is assumed to be a true specimen of a mindset that we will be carrying to polling booths, than rest assured that we already have the best we deserve and that our democratic delight is all set to last for at least another five years.
We have been thrashing Bhuttos, Sharifs, generals, feudals, agriculturists, industrialists and bureaucrats for what the country has become and just how wrong we have been in our judgement. The real enemy of the state — may I say — is an ordinary Pakistani who is still not sure which part of the ballot his stamp should hit.
A voter who is willing to vote for anyone for a free ride and lunch on the polling day, is the biggest curse on the state. If they are so ignorant and backward that they cannot make a wise decision — on the pretext of being uneducated — than they should not be allowed to vote at the first place. An ignorant voter is not less dangerous than a quack — if the latter is not allowed to practise, than why the former is allowed to vote?
On the other hand, the educated vote of our society is also not as wise as it should have been. And even if it makes no mistake, it is outnumbered by the rural vote (read quack vote).
And what a blessed lot of politicians we have been bestowed with. They don’t have a nation which they need to divide to rule — they have a nation that is already divided against itself.
It's a very disturbing trend and it's is exactly what supporters of the status quo want. Everything will come to a naught if the nation does not arrive at a unanimous verdict against the 'shohada brigade'.
Its to be expected within a nation where the government continually dumbs down its own people and robs them blindly and many live below the poverty line and with mass illiteracy comes selfishness, greed, stupidity and all me me me. I think like all nations, Pakistan will have to go through its dark phases and maybe even war before the people finally wake up and get their acts together.
I agree that ignorant voters or people who vote without positive reasons about why they’re voting are bad for the system. However I think its because people are not used to the responsibility their vote gives officials. The only solution is time, not the exclusion of large segments of the population.
It says it all. PPP has been playing the Sindh Card for a long time. And icing on the cake is the ultimate ‘shaheed card’. Are not these the blackmailing ploys that our voters should be aware of? Dynamics of Sindh’s politics is not unknown to us. It is definitely one step behind the rest of the country as it is more prone to traditional political maneuvering. It is again a long discussion but my point is that even if you consider the whole of the country as a single constituency, the element of performance-based voting is almost non-existing. Sixty years of sufferings do not seem to have taught us any notable electoral lesson.
I agree, I just dont think that rural voters are any more susceptible to nationalism. It is unfortunately equally widespread amongst urban voters. MQM is nationalist, ANP is nationalist, PML-N has played the Punjab card on occasion. And I completely share your distaste for nationalism based politics, biradari based politics etc.
Lets not say sixty years of suffering though. Half the time we were under dictatorships, and the rest under a very limited democracy. It will take time and stability. Theres no quick fixes.
I agree, I just dont think that rural voters are any more susceptible to nationalism. It is unfortunately equally widespread amongst urban voters. MQM is nationalist, ANP is nationalist, PML-N has played the Punjab card on occasion. And I completely share your distaste for nationalism based politics, biradari based politics etc.
You are right. That's why I said in my previous reply that when it comes to eletoral pattern, we can consider the whole of the country as a single large constituency that is prone to anything but logic. But you have to agree that Sindhi vote is more vulnerable to ethnic diversions than Punjabi vote. But be it Sindhi nationalism, Punjabi national, Balochi nationalism or Pakhtoon nationalism, none of them should overtake national cause.
