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Friday March 29, 2024

44 contestants for NA-120 unprecedented in by-polls

By Tariq Butt
September 20, 2017

ISLAMABAD: A phenomenal number of candidates who jumped in the by-poll for NA-120 Lahore intrigued many because none of over a dozen by-elections to the National Assembly held after the 2013 parliamentary polls attracted even half of this figure.

One explanation, which seems quite plausible and convincing, is that this huge number was meant to confuse the voters of leading contesting political parties and force them to consume maximum time to cast their ballots. The purpose to be achieved by this extraordinary move was to drag the polling process so that the turnout remains low. Every voter was required to take a long time to figure out his/her choice candidate from the lengthy ballot paper. It was specifically cumbersome for less literate, elderly and women voters.

There were a total of 44 candidates in the race to NA-120. Except the nominees of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), all of them had their security deposits confiscated for not getting the minimum threshold of one-eighth or 12.5pc of the total votes polled.

Even in most high-profile by-elections, held over the past four years, which created a  lot of political stir and storm, there were much less candidates compared to NA-120’s tally. When National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was unseated, and by-poll to NA-122 Lahore was held on October 11, 2015, only 16 contestants had vied for the seat. The PTI had sponsored Abdul Aleem Khan. The voter participation was 43.1pc.

Similarly, there were only nine aspirants in the by-election to NA-144 Okara held on the same day with only 51pc voters taking part in the exercise.

Another by-poll held for NA-246 Karachi in which the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was confronted with heavy odds, only 16 competitors had showed up on April 23, 2015. Because of extraordinary atmosphere created at the time, which spawned many hardships for the MQM, the turnout was only 36.73pc.

The by-election to NA-151 Lodhran seat, which had fallen vacant due to disqualification of Siddique Baloch, had attracted only 20 candidates. This was also very important exercise. The voter participation was very high, 59.8pc on December 23, 2015. PTI representative Jehangir Tareen had won.

Likewise, the by-poll to NA-149 Multan was also most significant as the seat had fallen vacant due to resignation of senior politician Javed Hashmi after he had quite the PTI. There were mere 19 contestants in the field. Only 29.37pc voters had taken part in the exercise.

There were just nine contestants in the key by-poll to NA-19 Haripur organized on August 16, 2016 with the turnout being 44pc. Eleven contenders had jumped in the race to NA-108 Mandi Bahauddin. The voter participation was 42.66pc in the June 8, 2015 show.

There were only ten candidates in the by-election to NA-137 Nankana Saheb organized on March 15, 2015 with the turnout being very high, 61.08pc. Quite less number of competitors, 7, were attracted by the by-poll to NA-162 Sahiwal on September 19, 2016. The voter participation stood at 46pc.

Generally, Balochistan experiences the maximum number of contenders in the general elections as well as the by-polls. However, there were just 16 candidates in the by-election to NA-267 Kachi-cum-Jhal Magsi with the turnout coming to 38.68pc.

Similarly, only 16 runners had fought for NA-260 Quetta-cum-Chagai-cum-Nushki-cum-Mastung on July 16, 2016 with only 29pc of total voters of the constituency casting their ballots. The by-election to NA-245 Karachi organized on April 7, 2016 had 16 contenders to vie. 

Another by-poll in Multan’s NA-153 had eleven candidates in the field with turnout being 49.21pc on March 17, 2016. In Sindh’s NA-218 Matiari constituency, seven candidates had fought for the seat on January 18, 2016 with 38.91pc electorate voting.

This data of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) amply shows that none of these by-elections had as large number of competitors as NA-120 Lahore had.

In the light of these statistics, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s claim that such a large number of contestants were brought in with a purpose for this Lahore seat to hurt the PML-N and complicate the polling exercise so that there was less voter turnout, which, he believed, damaged his party, doesn’t appear to be wide of the mark.

At present, neither the Constitution nor any law bars anyone from contesting a national or provincial seat regardless of his or her political standing. The new electoral reforms package also doesn’t place any curb on such ambitious lot, having no political say whatsoever.

In addition, the fielding of candidates of religious parties with two of them standing on the third and fourth positions in the contest also raised questions about the motive behind it.