The commission report

Text analysis: In the 237-page report the term ‘fair’ or ‘fairly’ appears 82 times. The term ‘just’ appears 32 times and the term ‘mandate’ 23 times. The PTI’s allegations: One, organised rigging. Two, non-transparent polling. Three, public mandate stolen. Conclusions of the report: One, the elections were “organized and conducted fairly”. Two, the elections were held “in accordance with the law”. Three, there is no evidence that the “elections were not a true and fair reflection of the mandate of the electorate”.
For anyone who had been following the proceedings of the commission closely – and objectively – there were absolutely no surprises. There have been three actors in this melodrama – the PTI, the PML-N and the commission (a melodrama is a “sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions”).
The PML-N’s electoral mandate stands validated and the Judicial Commission has discharged its responsibility honourably. The PTI is now a serious candidate for some serious introspection. Evidently, the PTI’s internal decision-making process is deeply, deeply flawed. Evidently, the PTI’s top-most decision-making hierarchy is not playing with a full deck of cards. Evidently, there have been serious errors of judgement. For all to see, the PTI’s politics of denial has served neither the PTI’s nor democracy’s interests.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ‘victory speech’ does not serve the interests of democracy either. Democracy is about three things – free and fair elections, accountability and a responsive government. Yes, the elections were conducted fairly. Yes, the elections are a true and fair reflection of the mandate of the electorate. But elections sans accountability and a responsive government is only one-third democracy. What about the other two-third?
Pakistan is not heading in the right direction – both in electoral and economic terms. The current electoral system revolves around three things. One, the post-election distribution of state assets among the winners, their families and their supporters. Two, the rural politics of dhara-bandi. Three, politics of thana-kutchery. This electoral status quo needs to be broken.
The first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system is deeply, deeply flawed. The PTI, for instance, managed nearly 17 percent of the popular votes but got only 10 percent of the general seats. The PML-N, for instance, managed only 33 percent of the popular votes but got nearly 50 percent of the general seats.
For the record, 14.8 million votes were polled in favour of the PML-N. For the record, 30 million votes were polled in favoor of candidates other than those of the PML-N’s. Isn’t the first-past-the-post electoral system deeply, deeply flawed?
The only countries that continue to follow the first-past-the-post electoral system are the United Kingdom, the United States and some of the United Kingdom’s ex-colonies.
On the other hand, the system of proportional representation is being practised by Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, European Union, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungry, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Moldavia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey and Uruguay.
Mark Twain once said, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com. Twitter: @saleemfarrukh