Here’s what is happening across the border: Malala urges women to vote and how will a new leadership affect the country’s entertainment industry.
Gallup poll forecasts PTI to just pip PML-N
A poll by Gallup Pakistan has forecast that Imran Khan’s Pakistan-Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is likely to emerge as the top party in the 25 July elections but will be closely followed by Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, reports Dawn. The research organisation based the poll on data from five surveys it conducted in the run-up to the elections.
Gallup Pakistan, however, warned that 12 per cent of undecided voters in Punjab province could tilt the balance of the election. It further said that the uncertainty over the results was also due to “arrests, disqualifications, and judgments” that have caused concern among all key contestants, barring PTI. This, it adds, has ensured that there is no level playing for all parties in these elections.
Malala urges Pakistani citizens to vote in numbers
Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Laureate and education activist, urged all Pakistanis, especially women, to cast their votes in the 25 July general elections, reports The News.
On Tuesday, a day before the elections, the 21-year-old human rights advocate tweeted that the power was in the hands of the people of Pakistan, particularly women. “Democracy shall win,” she tweeted.
The people of Pakistan – especially women – the power is in your hands. Get up, go and vote! Democracy shall win! #Election2018 ??? pic.twitter.com/LqVRUK9cjO
— Malala (@Malala) July 24, 2018
Half the women in Balochistan haven’t registered to vote, ECP data reveals
More than half the women over 18 years of age have not registered to vote in Balochistan, reports Dawn, quoting from data with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
This, the report adds, despite more women running for office than ever before in the country’s largest province in terms of size. But male candidates in Balochistan still easily outnumbered their women counterparts by six to one.
The current data though is in line with the voting patterns of women in the province, the report says. It adds that the Gender Election Monitoring Mission found that in the 2008 general election, not a single woman had voted in around 20 polling centres of Balochistan. Whereas in the 2013 general elections, only four of 10 women eligible to vote were registered.
Such statistics, the report says, pushed the ECP to make it mandatory for each constituency to have at least 10 per cent votes cast by women. If not, there will be repolling.
Will new leadership aid Pakistan’s ailing entertainment sector?
In the past decade, there has been little government support for Pakistan’s emerging entertainment industry, reports The Express Tribune. The only significant government initiative, the report adds, was early this year, when the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage announced the first film-related policy that exempts duty on the import of film equipment and promises to establish film studios.
According to the report, this scenario is unlikely to change as having examined the manifestos of the three major parties — PTI, PPP and PML (N) — it found that the prime focus was on art councils with very little mention of the nascent film industry.
‘Polls may not resolve political crisis’
In an opinion piece titled ‘Knowing the Unknown’ in The News International, columnist Imtiaz Alam argues that the 25 July elections will only “reinforce the status quo against democratic forces”. He adds that various known and unknown factors may influence the outcome of the elections set to take place Wednesday.
The known factors, he elaborates, include anti-incumbency against the PML-N, the ‘perceived witch hunt’ of the Sharifs, Imran Khan losing momentum at the fag end of his campaign, Bilawal Bhutto’s surprisingly mature electoral debut and Nawaz Sharif’s emphasis on civil-military issues.
The unknown factor, however, includes political defections, muzzling of the media and possible behind-the-scenes rigging of the elections.
The piece concludes that no matter who wins or loses, the election “rather than resolving the political crisis, will accentuate the political conflict and add to political destabilisation” thereby adversely affecting the country’s financial sector.
Why does Sindh prefer to vote for PPP?
Writing in Dawn, columnist Sohail Sangi attempts to counter the perception that Sindh province votes for the Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) because of feudalism and the Bhuttos.
Instead, he adds Sindh tends to favour the PPP because the party has always tried to raise issues such as finance and water. Another factor, he writes, is the fear among Sindhis that if the PPP is not in power here, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) the second largest party in the province, will start to dominate and divide the province.
He further states that the PPP is forever on election mode in the region. It gives local PPP leaders jobs, contracts and commissions and also focuses on biradaris and tribes, otherwise ignored by other national parties, Sangi writes.
Progress only on CPEC projects on eastern route
Statistics compiled by the Pakistani ministry of finance and economic affairs show that only three infrastructural projects on the eastern route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have received 90 per cent of the total Chinese financing — $ 1.8 billion dollars over the last year. The other projects are far behind in terms of funding, reported The Express Tribune.
Contributors: Alind Chauhan, Soniya Agarwal, Manisha Mondal, Anagha Deshpande, Prateek Gupta, Rupanwita Bhattacharjee and Sharanya Munsi