I read the above article, and am simply shocked at how people can contest from different areas. How is that possible. I mean can i run for election from as many towns as possible. How the hell is that even allowed?
what happens if some joker wins from 3 diff areas, does he give up 2 of those areas to ppl he defeated or does he appoint one of his goons?
I thought the whole electoral college shyt in US was all screwey. This sounds even dodgier.
can someone write a few paragraphs titled “pakistan politics for dummies” so I can comprehend this.
Fraudz, I think a person can contest on maximum of four seat for the NA, although am not 100% percent positive. Now, if the person wins all of his seats, he will retain his home constituency, and resigns from all others, so the other candidates can fill those up in runner-up elections.
isnt that kinda freaky though? Maybe its just diff and I am unable to comprehend it, but I dot know what the benefit of this is. seems like only one it benefits is the candidate
Yes you are right- and it becomes really unfair to the locals, if a candidate who is the resident of Interior Sind, ends up winning in Chitral, only on the basis of his party's popularity. That candidate won't have any knowledge about the issues being faced by the locals, and can never become a dependable public servant. This loop-hole ought to be abolished.
Abdullah, it is only in the National Assembly contests (where the representatives normally don’t pursue a local agenda, but a national one), and not for the local or provincial assembly contests. However, you raise a valid concern.
I remember when Ijaz-ul-Haq won from Rawalpindi as well as Toba Tek Singh in the last general elections & then he retained the Rawalpindi seat, a party worker of his in Toba committed suicide. He probably didn't even knew his name.
NYA is right.
As far as the national assembly is concerned, you can contest from any city, anywhere, regardless of where you are from. In provincial elections, you can only contest from within your province, of course.
And there is no limit to the number of seats you can contest from. However, if you win from more than one constituency, you have to resign from all but one. A re-election is held on that seat. And in case of multiple wins, you have a choice of your seat. The winner is not mandated to go with his home constituency.
Theres no limit on the number of seats you can contest from, Imran Khan contested from 7 in 97 and ZAB contested from 5 in 1970. Stupid system, but do remember in a Parlimentry system of Democracy people use it as a means of projecting themselves as National Leaders.
In the UK Michael Portillo lost in the National Elections, and came back in a by election on another seat elsewhere.
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*Originally posted by Abdullah k: *
Yes you are right- and it becomes really unfair to the locals, if a candidate who is the resident of Interior Sind, ends up winning in Chitral, only on the basis of his party's popularity. That candidate won't have any knowledge about the issues being faced by the locals, and can never become a dependable public servant. This loop-hole ought to be abolished.
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In these elections I think Ejaz ul Haq was contesting from 8 constituencies. He has lost from his home constituency in Rawalpindi and won from Bahawalnagar. :)
This is the first time Ijaz-ul-Haq lost in Rawalpindi, and I am glad the son of the crazy dictator got what he deserved. I heard he lost to a PPP candidate
This trend started in 1988, and was more evident in 1990, when Benazir contested from two seats, and although its impossible to beat her in Larkana even with rigging, she lost to Bilaour, which was very controversial as there reports of rigging on the part of the Muslim League.
After that it became a tradition. Although they usually limited it to 2 seats, this time some of the important politicians made a mockery out of this lax rule.
