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LETTER TO EDITOR
February 5th, 2008
Elections and Rigging
Ever since the last assemblies completed their full 5 year tenure for the first time in the history of Pakistan and the dates for the next general elections were announced the opposition political parties are crying day in and day out that the elections would be rigged against them. No amount of assurances by the Election Commission, the caretaker government (no where in the world a caretaker government is brought in and the elections are held under the government in power), and the president himself that the elections will be free, fair, transparent and peaceful are acceptable to them. All sorts of pre-poll and post-poll rigging strategies and methods "“ imaginary and real - are being forecast and propagated by them in their public meetings and over the media. The other side is equally active in recounting the fool proof measures that are in place and would make the elections fair "“ like placing of the voters' list on the website, addressing to the complaints of the candidates and taking prompt action on them, use of transparent plastic ballot boxes which cannot be pre-stuffed with bogus votes, declaring the results and giving a signed copy of it to the reps of the contestants by the Polling Officer immediately after counting of the votes and above all, monitoring of the election process by the international powers, human rights activists and foreign media observers running into hundreds. Surprisingly certain political parties are making claims that if they do not get a certain number of seats, it would be due to the polls having been rigged against them. One can well imagine what all will not happen and claimed by the parties during and after the elections. Whereas in the civilised countries a losing candidate not only concedes his defeat but also is invariably the first one to greet the winning candidate on his victory, in our case what to talk of felicitating the winner, the loser straight away takes him to the court for having rigged the election. This is unfortunate. Does it not tantamount to announcing to the world by our politicians themselves that they are all cheats who resort to all sorts of unethical practices just to win? And the nation trusts them with the sacred task of legislation and adminstration!!
Truly
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
30, Westridge-1
Rawalpindi 46000
Tel: (051) 5446 3344
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