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by pakistanipoliticalscene

Imran was not given 4 candies now he wants the whole candy store

WHICH EVER WAY THE WHEEL OF FORTUNES TURNS PTI WILL BE THE LOSER.

The people of Pakistan are happy with the the present government as shown in the Gallup survey. My recent informal survey of educated class shows 75+% plus approval of the present government in both its performance and handling of the present situation. whether because of sympathy or performance, this rating is improving. Let’s keep this survey aside, if the Prime Minister is forced to resign under the pressure of army and others and asked to go home, he will dissolve the assemblies and call re-election in 90 days as per the constitution.

Additionally, Nawaz Sharif will go as a martyr, who has not been allowed to complete his 5 years term, as has been the case in the past. Imran Khans demeanor in the past and now clearly show his desire to side with non-democratic forces, particularly his alliance with PAT.  He will not be able to resurrect himself. no matter what.  it is proven beyond the shadow of doubt that there was no rigging as he claims. He had lied all along and that  his rhetoric is not supported by any credible evidence. It is based more on conjecture that substance.

The next elections, will obviously be held in a much secure environment for all. The inability of PPP ANP PMLN to hold rallies under threat from TTP would no more be there. They will certainly do better. No question on that. PTI is likely to get less seats than before and will most likely become marginal.

As a final remark, and seeing Imran Khan`s handling of his party`s affairs, if the rigging was done, I repeat if it was , then it was a good decision. Imran Khan is acting like a child who says that since you did not agree to give me 4 lolly pops, I am going to take over the whole candy store.

by pakistanipoliticalscene

Was there Rigging in 2013 Elections?

I am surprised at the so called educated and intelligent class of Pakistan, which includes lawyers politicians, professionals students, anchors, experts at their rhetoric on the poll rigging. I am even more concerned at their callousness and deceitfulness in misleading people of Pakistan in an attempt to dislodge the legitimate government.

Rigging can only take place either with negligence or with connivance of the Parties Representatives (PRs) at the polling booth. Let’s re-enact the polling day at a Polling Booth.

  • It’s about 8 or so in the morning. The Polling Stations (PS) are open for the (PRs) and the Returning Officers (ROs) to settle in.
  • Each PR is handed over the voters list
  • The empty ballot boxes, which are also transparent, arrive. The empty boxes are shown to all PRs and sealed.
  • The ballot papers are then unsealed and show to each PR to ensure that their party’s candidate name is there.
  • The polling begins. Each voter proves his identity. All parties ensure his name is in the voters list. She/he votes and goes away with an ink mark on the thumb and a finger print on the ballot paper. The PRs object to any suspicious voter or those who cannot prove his or hers identity.
  • At the official closing time the polling booths are closed for new voters and those already in the PS are allowed to vote.
  • The counting begins immediately after the closing of the polling time.
  • The votes are counted in front of party’s representative. Final tally is done for each contestant.
  • The results are signed by all PAs.
  • The returning officer takes the tally for final compilation at Election omission of Pakistan’s (ECP’s) designated office(s)
  • The PRs do their own tally at their parties offices based on the results at each polling station.

The above substantially describes the polling process. It can be clearly seen that unless the all PRs collude with each other or are negligent, the rigging cannot take place in the polling booths. I believe, it is unlikely that poling agents of all contestants wre either negligent, or colluded to enable one candidate to win in election 2013

Now let’s step back and try and reason out Imran Khan’s main allegations:

  • Ex-Chief Justice manufactured elections and instructed RO’s to change the results. There is no case, which point towards RO’s changing the results. How can they? For argument sake let’s accept the insinuation. This can be easily challenged and proven in the tribunal by presenting the tallying sheets signed by all party’s PRs at the Polling Booth. It is no rocket science. Why is this not done as the allegations continue? As per the cases handled by Election Tribunal, where there was a doubt, a recounting was done and a decision was given on the basis of facts.
  • Ballot papers were printed in Urdu bazaar. Fine let’s accept they were, so what? Were these used to cast fake votes? All votes casted in the polling booths.
  • Ballot boxes were replaced with new one with fake votes. Possible. This was done where and when and by whom? Is it the army who transported them or by ECP. The results tallies of the PA’s matched the ECP’s count, hence nullify this insinuation.
  • Statement by Afzal Khan as the conclusive proof of rigging. Really does not hold any water. He timing, his demeanor etc., creates doubt on his credibility.

Though may be simplistic, the whole objective of this piece is to give us all a perspective of the election process, which most of the critiques don’t know,  and  arrive at an educated decision whether the rigging allegations are true or not. Allah has given us ability to assess and then make a judgement. Please step back and reflect. You may still reach the same conclusion, but then you would have thought it through.

My personal assessment is that the rigging was not done as claimed by PTI. FAFEN, UNDP and other Neutral Agencies have endorsed this view. Even the internal report of PTI says that PTI lost due to nominating wrong candidates & their own negligence.

by pakistanipoliticalscene

Pakistan in Grip of Mafias

Pakistan is probably the only country in the World that has been in the center of wars for about 35 years. In the last 15 years it has faced a civil war like situation, including a battle ground for proxy wars between Gulf countries and Iran. During this period spurious organizations and jihadists mushroomed in Pakistan fully armed, brain washed and given license to kill and cause destruction. Two military take overs left a political vacuum in the country leading to these outfits gaining ground to fill the vacuum.

As we speak, the democracy has returned in the country. The media is free and so are the mafias who are active in their own sphere of operation. They have become increasingly active to serve their self-interest and not the interest of the country. The following is the list of mafias operating in Pakistan in order of their impact on the society.

  • Media: Pakistani media is in the forefront of all the mafias. Its reach is worldwide and its impact is lethal. Unfortunately, it is in grip of owners and anchors who have no sense of what is good for the country and what is good public information?
    1. The Anchors blackmail people in the civil society and extort money from them. They have become self-proclaimed experts on all issues. They play a musical chair game of same faces that come on media to give their opinion. You hardly see experts/ scholars being asked to come and give opinions.
    2. The people who have destructive agenda for Pakistan such as Tahir ul Qadri Imran Khan & likes are given inordinate amount of air time, knowingly that they want to create anarchy.
    3. The motivation to spread sensationalism is so intense that the news, which should not be there, are now the breaking news.
    4. The journalists and so called experts like Hasan Nisar, Haroon Rashid & likes spread too much pessimism in the society. They do not have an ability to look at things positively.
  • Religious: Most madrasahs and religious organizations have developed into dangerously armed cults. They have been allowed to mushroom in all parts of the country, the cult followers are brainwashed and given a license to kill. They kill with impunity and extort money in the name of religion.
  • Political: The political leadership has no sense of allegiance to the country. They have allegiance to their own self-interest. They do not want to give the country the time or an opportunity to develop. Leading among them is PTI and MQM. Imran Khan wants premiership at all cost. Altaf Hussain wants allegiance to him only. PMLQ, as always intriguing to bring others down etc. They do not want stability in the country
  • Institutional: The law enforcing agencies are infested with people who have formed their own gangs and links with extortionists and criminals that give the criminal the umbrella to operate freely
  • Bhatta Khors have infested into political parties and all segment of society and demand ransom money, do bank robberies, steal and kill with impunity. When arrested, the political interference comes to their help.

Having said all that, the silver lining is that all mafias have terminal life. They end is swift and complete so they are not able to surface again. The people get so fed up that they come out and bring them to justice. This will happen in the next 2 to 3 years. The people of Pakistan should rise against all mafias and do their best to stop them from harming Pakistan.

by pakistanipoliticalscene

Meeting with Shehbaz Sharif in January 2014

Had an opportunity to meet Shehbaz Sharif in January 2014, and had a conversation with him on the political undercurrents and warned him of dangers facing the PMLN’s government. Below is the breakdown with the conversation with him.

PAKISTAN’S PRESENT POLITICAL SCENE AND CHALLENGES FOR PML-N’S GOVERNMENT

I wish well to PML-N and want the party to complete its full five years term in order to succeed in implementing its plan. If PML-N succeeds in its effort, Pakistan succeeds.

Having said that, there is a real threat that it may not be allowed to complete its full term and is forced out in the next two years. The reasons are several, but the foremost would be to deny PML-N the time and opportunity to perform and increase it popularity and win the next elections. My view is that who ever wins the next election will have a relatively easier and prosperous phase of economy to manage, hence a longer run in the government.

Mid-term elections, therefore, should not be ruled out and PML-N must operate with this perspective (worst case scenario), while doing its best to prevent it from happening. PML-N should adopt a forward-looking strategy and improve its image in the masses and thwart any move to de-rail the government. Unfortunately, at this moment, the public perception is not favorable and Mr. Flip Flop Khan (PTI) is gaining momentum in Punjab with PPP doing the same in Sindh. It must be checked now or else it might be too late. There are several reasons for PML-N losing the momentum:

  • Same Old Faces: The common perception is that same old faces have surfaced and nothing better can be expected from. In particular, Mr. Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif and Sartaj Aziz are considered the weakest among the lot.
  • Incompetent Finance Minister: People are not happy that an all-important MOF is handed over to an Accountant rather than an accomplished Economist. Mr. Ishaq Dar’s economic management begins and ends with dollar/ rupee parity rate, which is inconsequential in the overall economic paradigm in Pakistan. He is obsessed with foreign exchange rate and sees this as make or break for the economy. With Trade deficit, Pak Rupee will continue to slide and hence not much can be done about it until Pakistan reaches a Trade surplus situation, which is not expected in the near future.
  • The family members/ relatives are being entrusted responsible positions that they cannot handle. Generally, it is said that Hamza in now de-facto the Chief Minister – a position he is not capable of managing. It is also said that nothing goes thru to CM without his approval. Maryam is entrusted with the youth development scheme. Ishaq Dar and Sartaj Aziz are family relatives.
  • Prime Minister is for Punjab only.
  • No Foreign Minister: This is an important slot, which is unfilled and leading to weak foreign policy initiatives and overall lack of positive projection of Pakistan’s image in the foreign countries.

PTI in Punjab and PPP in Sind respectively are benefitting from PML-N’s loss of momentum and appear to be gaining strength. PML-N must get this momentum back and should endeavor to change its perception by taking steps that would allow them to align themselves to public’s expectations, which is to bring a change. Presently, people do not see PML-N as a dynamic and progressive party that is endeavoring to lead a positive change and development in Pakistan. A new look PMl-N is need of the hour to change people’s perception. If this is not done, all the good work will go in the background and will not strengthen PML-N’s position. Below are some are some specific suggestions in this regard:

  1. Bring new faces in the forefront, particularly the people in key positions such as Finance and Foreign Ministers
  2. The Prime Minister should reach out to other CMs. Spend more time in other provinces and with other CMs
  3. Improve PMl-N’s projection in the media. Appoint some body who is more aggressive and is able to more eloquently deal with people like Shirin Mazari, Asma Jehangir Aitazaz Hasan and likes. He should be fluent in English and positively engage in discussions. I must say that PML-N is the weakest among political parties in defending its policies and projecting a positive image.
  4. Undertake shorter gestation projects to show results.
  5. As PTI has done establish one medium of instruction for school. General public received this action of PTI as a positive step in bringing equality in education system.
  6. Allocate larger budget for education, improve the quality of infrastructure, teachers training program and over all education standard and literacy rate.
  7. Take lead in holding local bodies elections. This will certainly get you ahead of other political parties and help improve PML-N’s image as a progressive party.
  8. Immediately improve working of SMEDA to help the SME business, which is strapped for cash due to heavy government borrowings from commercial banks. This will have a far-reaching effect on the middle market and compliment the youth development program.
  9. Install a new Finance Minister. This is hurting PML-N the most. Not only Ishaq Dar is perceived as incompetent, but also one who put Pakistan under the slavery of IMF, hence price hikes and increased tax burden. We need to better explain to masses the reasons for accepting the IMF dictum. We all know that in countries like Pakistan, where there is a dearth of capital and large investment is needed for infrastructure development and building institutions, the tax collections can never be sufficient to meet the financing needs. Tax and price increases, therefore, need to be managed in a way that they hurt masses the least
  10. Inform people of what is coming. With the large amount of investment in infrastructure and other development project, the economy is likely to go through a hyperinflation phase, such as witnessed by Turkey in 90s, Argentina and Brazil in the 80s. Inform and prepare masses to embrace this change. Indexing the economy may be the answer. It would be very appropriate to get advice from these countries on managing the economy through such phase.
  11. Set up “Virtual Courts”. In ability to try and punish criminals is causing a lot of damage to the law and order in the country and socio economic activity. One of the reasons is inadequate judge and witness protection. We should consider doing trial of criminal cases through electronic means. One such format would be to install a courtroom in the Jail, where the defense and prosecution present their case in front of a camera. The judge, who may be in some other location, is not visible to either the defense or prosecution. A criminal would go through the whole process, including appeals sitting in Jail. Columbia applied this method to get rid of the powerful and dangerous drug Mafia. It may be useful to tap on their experience. For civil cases set up jury from among the citizens.
  12. Create a local vigil to track criminals. Establish “Mohallah Committees” to keep a vigil on the criminal elements in their localities. Neighborhood watch and periodic meeting of Mohallah Committee becomes a considerable deterrent to criminals.
  13. Regulate Madaris. This has become a business and the Madaris are being used to brain wash people. This is a dangerous trend that must be controlled for future of Pakistan. The best solution would be to pass an act in the parliament to bring all Madaris under Govt. control. Any Madarasa found violating the rule would be closed and the management will be criminally prosecuted.

The above are some of the suggestions, which I believe would help PML-N in its governance and improving its image in the short and long run. I earnestly suggest that PML-N do a complete self-assessment and adapt to new ground realities. People want a new look and not old guards in the Government. It is our collectively responsibility towards Pakistan to provide the best talent to manage Pakistan and steer the country on road to socio economic prosperity. By the grace of Allah, Mian Nawaz and Shabaz Sharif have the will, desire and the capability to provide leadership and take the country out of the difficulties, but the people have begun to believe otherwise.