Make your vote count

Elections in Pakistan are mainly influenced by the emotions of the voters. He 2024 general election see voters driven by an impulse for revenge. This shows that our voting patterns lack objective reasoning, regardless of our education and the circle in which we move.

The irony is that voters trapped in such a pattern blame “biryani politics” – their supporters attend party meetings. jalsas eat a plate of free biryani. If the “woke people” can choose a vote of revenge, how can the same “woke people” blame the biryani vote?

Also, there are actually no biryani votes. These plates of food simply represent two things about Pakistanis: the plight of most of us and our love for food. Therefore, the argument against biryani votes is not only derogatory but also exposes the flaws in our woke culture, which is now calling for a revenge vote.

While the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) can take advantage of the revenge vote of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has opted for a different communication strategy.

The political crisis attributed to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government has not caused any significant damage to the vote bank loyal to the PML-N, but has led to the loss of seasonal votes that appear more influenced by revenge politics. The party that hopes to govern the country should not rely only on loyal votes; Seasonal additional votes may eventually strengthen their chances of forming a stable government.

The PTI is mainly betting on the revenge vote; He is not using his past performance to attract people to vote for him or promise reforms as he did before. The PTI's narrative of fighting the corrupt has become a secondary or complementary narrative, which complements the narrative of revenge.

Although the corruption narrative will not do much harm to the PML-N, the revenge narrative can deal a serious blow to the party when combined with corruption and other complementary narratives.

So far only the PPP has taken advantage of all the potential weaknesses, but it is not its year yet. The upcoming elections could be his year if, and only if, he can make his work in Sindh speak for itself.

Political parties talk about political consciousness (sha'oor), but the whole concept of assigning a unified symbol to all contenders in a political party is absurd. Political parties speak to the awareness and political acumen of the teenagers who support them. However, when it comes to elections, each leader brings a stuffed toy (a bat or an arrow) to ask for votes. If the entire process depends on showing a small child a figure to choose from in an examination room, then what's the point of choosing a representative of our choice from among our constituency?

This centralization strategy not only kills the purpose of electing separate public representatives but also frees them from being held accountable. If you are simply voting for Nawaz Sharif or Imran Khan, you are not voting for yourself, for your electorate, and then you should not be allowed to blame your elected representative if he does not turn up after the elections. This completely ignores what a representative of a particular constituency has delivered or failed to deliver during her constitutional term.

Political parties must trust young people and give them confidence; Pakistan's political leaders must start sharing the spotlight, something that is clearly not the case. Statements like “even if we nominate a Pole, he will win” should be discouraged. Parties must stop ridiculing public decisions with such comments and mentalities.

We need to establish a connection between the party and the public, which should not depend too much on a particular symbol or personality.

Leaders and supporters of all political parties have been in prison; There are martyrs in all parties and workers of all parties have faced difficulties that we cannot imagine. But this does not mean that we should vote based on emotions, pity or even revenge. We've done it in the past but let's be selfish this time.

Let's vote for ourselves and our country, not for the person who has suffered pain before or for someone who is currently suffering. Politics is your profession and your survival depends on this profession: stop feeling bad for the political elite.

Let's vote for the person who you think has accomplished education, someone who has worked in healthcare, someone who has accomplished ease of doing business, and someone who has worked hard for the economic growth of the country.

Given the past track record of political leaders, it is also necessary to evaluate who would be the best candidate for future interventions. Vote for them!

The writer is a freelance journalist. He has also served as a media advisor for health and tourism-related projects funded by the World Bank and Unicef ​​in Punjab. He tweets/posts @EAAgop

Originally published in The News