Our Announcements

Not Found

Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn't here.

Posts Tagged ECP

Our Liberal Intellectual, and the Gift that Keeps on Giving 

Saeed A.Malik.

The elections are done and are now being dusted. After the results have been declared, they have been greeted by the same cacophony of voices, which has become the norm as an election aftermath in Pakistan. In this sense, these elections were the same as any other. But a large majority point out two essential differences i.e that these elections were more peaceful than those held earlier; and that there was little or no rigging of the ballot itself. And hardly any complaint was lodged with the ECP on this latter score.

However, a lot may be said on the performance of the ECP itself. And the least that can be said is that it proved to be unprepared and incompetent beyond expectations. And there are many who blatantly, or through innuendo, accuse the army to have helped PTI over the finish line with help from the ECP. They forget that this ECP was hand picked by Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. It was designed under the ruling spirit of the “Charter of Democracy” which was sanctified by the 18nth Amendment. The methodology of how the election commissioners were henceforth to be chosen had a clear objective i.e that Pakistan must squirm under the alternating heels of Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, in perpetuity. That this did not happen has brought forth roars of rage from Mulla Fazal, and screams of anguish from Zardari, N.S, Achakzai, and Asfandyar Wali, all of whom plundered Pakistan in an unholy partnership without let or hindrance, or any fear of the same. 

Before the elections, we were dished out a standard fare by those who have now firmly acquired the sobriquet of “liberal intellectuals”. We were conditioned to expect that individuals like Ch Nisar and Brahamdagh Bugti will certainly win, being the favourites of the “establishment”. Also, those with the jeep as an election symbol, PSP, and GDA, will be helped across the finish line in large numbers, and that a very large number of independents will be returned. This narrative was also sold with uncommon zeal to the west, most notably in the U.S, and across the border in India. And none lapped it up so avidly as our Indian friends did.

But quite the opposite happened in EVERY particular. Each one of these predictions went wrong. Thus, for the moment at least there is confusion among our liberal intellectuals while they are busy concocting a new narrative. But what has been significantly missing from their narrative is the “other” story of Pakistan i.e the bankruptcy of the state largely achieved through ruthless plunder of state coffers by its leaders. This has left Pakistan hamstrung in a way that no calamity could have. Pakistan today is virtually defenceless because it does not have the means to sustain a defence if attacked.

John Perkins, in his book “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” clearly lays out the blueprint of how big powers undermine smaller states. It is the job of the Hitman to offer the President of the target country a project which is economically unfeasible and guaranteed to bankrupt this country so that it can then be held in eternal thralldom. And along with the offer of such a project, the subject President also gets a fat cheque in his Swiss Account. If the President refuses, jackals are sent after him and he is assassinated. Jamie Roldos of Equador and Omar Torrijos of Panama were both eliminated for not taking the bait offered them. And if the jackals fail because the security of the offending President is so watertight, as was the case with Saddam, he is then dealt with by an invasion.

Pakistan has lost the first phase of its war–the economic phase. It must now await the second phase. The enemies which dealt the mortal economic blow to Pakistan are Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and all others who signed the infamous ” Charter of Democracy” which was little more than a blueprint of cooperation to loot the country dry. Their crime was not just plundering. It was also treachery. These people worked actively to undermine their country while filling their pockets at the same time. They should, therefore, be tried for both crimes.

The liberal intellectuals are guilty of providing intellectual cover to the crimes of the enemies of Pakistan, both internal and external. Theirs is the crime of abetment in the sale of a narrative which goes against the interests of the country which has given them all they own.

Free expression of opinion is theirs by right. But this ceases to remain so when opinion is put forward as fact and done specifically to help those who have undermined the very foundations of the state. When this happens it becomes abetment of the enemy, which both Zardari and Nawaz Sharif and their poodles clearly are.

Readers who are interested, need to just collect the writings of these liberal intellectuals and scrutinize them. They will hardly find a word against the massive theft which has taken Pakistan down, or against those who perpetrated it. But they will find streams of invective against the “establishment” which are presented as facts.

But for the majority of committed TV anchors and opinion piece writers who refused every blandishment from the gangsters who plundered Pakistan, the narrative of the liberal intellectuals would have been a runaway sell.

As Pakistan struggles to remain standing in the days and weeks ahead, the thieves may be remembered. But it is important that their abettors are also not forgotten.

P.S. We now see a fresh broadside from our liberal intellectuals taking shape. This is that Imran Khan is a “puppet” of the army. This has already been sold to the Indian media by our intellectuals, and Indian media outlets are spreading this around like it were God’s truth. But anyone who has any honesty about him and knows Imran just a wee bit will know that the man least likely to be anyone’s puppet is Imran. Hopefully, we will all see this being borne out in the days ahead. I also predict he will get along with the army better than most earlier parliamentarians. And his relationship with India will be more constructive than it has been in the recent past.

, , , , , , ,

No Comments

LETTER TO EDITOR : The Hapless ECP, Fair Election Not Possible.Hopes for Future Dim Due to PPP Election Rigging, a Real Possibility

 

LETTER TO EDITOR

March 10th, 2013

 

The Hapless  ECP

 

images-5Today’s newspapers carry front page headlines about the helplessness of the ECP expressed by its honourable members. One reads,  “Plan to nab thieves turned govt against reforms: ECP members”.  The other says, “Justice ® Khan says 100 per cent fair polls cannot be guaranteed in the absence of reforms”.  Justice ® Kayani says govt. tears apart Reform Agenda” etc.

 

If the ECP cannot guarantee 100 per cent fair and free elections or  keep the corrupt and dishonest away from taking part in elections and considers the present rulers to be the cause for it all,  then I think, the only honourable course of action left to them is to resign en bloc from the commission. It will not only shake the very foundations of the corrupt rulers in this country but send a very strong message all over the world!!

But …. alas, will they do it?!!

 

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

 

    

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
30 Westridge 1
Rawalpindi 46000
Pakistan
Tel: (051) 5158033
E.mail: [email protected]

 

Additional Reading:

LAHORE: 

A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has urged the chief election commissioner (CEC) to take notice of “pre-poll rigging” by the ruling coalition.

Only weeks before the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is hiring loyalists on important government posts that could influence election results, PML-N Senator Tariq Azim said in a statement on Sunday.

He urged the CEC to “save the national exchequer from becoming PPP’s election war chest”.

Senator Azeem pointed out that the prime minister’s discretionary fund had been increased to Rs37 billion by slashing funding from crucial national projects like Basha Dam. Using development funds for PPP’s election campaign through the prime minister is blatant pre-poll rigging, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2013.

, , ,

No Comments

Voter fraud: 65% of votes in Balochistan were bogus in 2008 General Election

 

By Irfan Ghauri
Published: September 22, 2011

 


ECP and NADRA reveal staggering figures for 2008 general election.

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan had the highest rate of fake voters during the 2008 general election, according to findings from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Unknown-3A glance at statistics from the province do not reflect well on the electoral process. In Killa Abdullah there were total of 387,823 registered voters and only 70,820 could be verified. In Kech, of the 218,953 registered voters only 84,500 were legitimate. In Loralai there were 226,658 registered voters, of which a meagre 52,657 could be verified. Of Jaffarbabad’s 391,608 registered voters, only 98,919 were not bogus.

The legitimacy of our current government has been severely questioned by recent findings that almost half of the entries in voter lists at the last election were fake.

The startling facts emerged as the ECP and NADRA were preparing new voter lists based on computerised national identity cards (CNICs). Discrepancies emerged between the electoral rolls used for last general election and succeeding by-polls held so far.

(Read: Democratic process – Balochistan seeks quick completion of voters’ list)

The official documents, copies of which are available with The Express Tribune, reveal serious flaws in the electoral system used in the 2008 general election. Among the 81.2 million voters registered, 37 million were either ghost voters, multiple entries or the voter was registered without any authentic proof of identity. The figures for dubious entries were as follows: 65 per cent in Balochistan, 62 per cent in FATA, 54 per cent in Sindh, 43 per cent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 41 per cent in Punjab.

The 2007 electoral rolls were an updated version of lists compiled by the ECP for elections held in the 90s and 2002.

Statistics from around the country are alarming. Larkana, the hometown of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had 484,727 fake entries against 240,762 genuine registered voters who could be verified. The town had a total of 725,489 registered voters.

images-1The district of Multan, from where Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s stalwart Makhdoom Javed Hashmi were elected to the National Assembly, had 1.16 million bogus entries out of a total 2.2 million registered voters.

Karachi had more seats than any other city in the national and provincial legislatures, and a total of 6.6 million registered voters. Only 3.9 million could be verified. A glaring 2.7 million entries had been fake.

Similarly, Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city and capital of most populous province Punjab, had a total of 3.7 million registered voters. Among them 2.1 million have been declared genuine and the remaining 1.6 million could not be verified.

Islamabad, the capital and considered the most developed city in the country, was not free of electoral fraud. Out of the total 482,548 registered voters, 153,965 were bogus entries. Peshawar had a total of 1.2 million registered voters. Of these, 610,197, just over half, were fake. Quetta had a total of 652,799 registered voters. Among these, 323,837 could not be verified as genuine registered voters.

Unknown-20The findings make uneasy reading for the incumbent national and provincial legislatures. The electoral system has been uncovered as falling well short of fair democratic standards.

Ref

, , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

LETTER TO EDITOR: E.Filing of Nomination Papers

 

LETTER TO EDITOR

March 16th, 2013

 257762-Map-1316641874-945-640x480

E.Filing of Nomination Papers

 

Now that the ECP duly supported by the SC has been able to get the nomination forms printed with the changes that it wanted in them, the clever politicians are bound to think of means and measures to thwart its full implementation. Their very first step in this direction was to deny the ECP the 30 day scrutiny period asked by it to scrutinize more than 10,000 applicants” thousands of particulars in detail.  It is, therefore, suggested that the contestants should be asked to e.file their applications along with all the supporting documents like tax returns, bank statements,  bank loan papers, travel tickets and other documents, utility bills, cars and vehicles registrations etc. etc, which should all be immediately uploaded on the ECP website for all to see. Anyone detecting any discrepancy/ inaccuracy/false or fake statement/ document could immediately draw ECP attention for its detailed scrutiny.  This shall assist/help the ECP tremendously in scrutiniz ing the particulars of the applicants in the shortest possible time.

 

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi 
Pakistan

E.mail: [email protected]

 
 
 
 
 

, ,

No Comments