DELAYS SPOIL THE PARTY FOR PTI BACKED INDEPENDENTS In partnership with
Profit
Friday, 9 February, 2024 I 28 Rajab, 1445
g
ARMED FORCES FELICITATE NATION ON VIOLENCE-FREE CONDUCT OF GENERAL ELECTIONS
T
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE STAFF REPORT
HOUGH the initial synopsis of the election results shows independent candidates leading on majority of national and provincial assemblies seats, the nation eagerly awaiting complete results following the conclusion of polling, which largely remained peaceful with sporadic incidents of violence across the country. The political forces and election observers have questioned the inordinate delay in the release of election results despite polling concluded at 5pm. Even
g
POLLING PROCESS REMAINS LARGELY PEACEFUL WITH SPORADIC VIOLENT AND TERROR INCIDENTS
Bilawal points out ‘slow’ results, notes independents ‘doing well’
after a lapse of more than seven hours, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has not given any reason for the delay leading to the expression of suspicions from contesting parties. Prior to the elections, the electoral watchdog had introduced a new system called the Election Management System
KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari raised alarm on Friday over the sluggish pace of the release of election results, expressing apprehension regarding the delay. In a statement posted on a popular social networking site, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari remarked that the unfolding of election results has been unusually sluggish, stirring concern among political circles. “The pace at which the election results are being disclosed is incredibly slow,” he stated. Highlighting the preliminary results, the PPP Chairman conveyed op-
(EMS) to organize the results, but so far, the performance of the system has belied the ECP claims. ECP officials had informed the media before the elections that if results could
timism regarding the performance of PPP candidates and independent candidates backed by the party. “The initial outcomes for Pakistan People’s Party are promising, indicating a commendable performance by our candidates and the independent contenders supported by us,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized. However, he also stressed the significance of awaiting the final results before drawing conclusive remarks. “While the preliminary results are encouraging, it remains crucial to await the final tally to ascertain the true picture,” he remarked cautiously. STAFF REPORT
also be sent via the Internet, presiding officers would themselves collect the results and take them to the returning officers.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
MQM-P claims lead over Karachi’s 19 NA seats
KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has claimed that as per reports the party is receiving, the party is leading in up to 18 to 19 National Assembly seats of Karachi. Addressing the media in Karachi, he said: “Apart from two to three seats in the city’s outskirts, on almost all 18 seats and up to 19 according to another report, the MQM is leading and is on its way to breaking its own record.” STAFF REPORT
PTI demands immediate provision of Form 45 to polling agents ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Rs 20.00 | Vol XIV No 222 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expressed serious concerns over non-provision of Form 45 to PTI polling agents even after lapse of several hours seemingly under a malicious plot to the change the results after sensing the clear victory of PTI’s candidates despite all attempts to rig and manipulate the elections. PTI Chief Election Observer Brigadier (retd) Muhammad Musaddiq Abbasi demanded that the Elections Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should ensure instant provision of Form 45 to PTI polling agents because no-provision of Form 45 after concluding polling process was a clear violation of elections rules and regulations and a systematic and shameful attempt to rig elections. However, PTI Chief Election Observer vowed that the nation would not tolerate and accept any bid to manipulate the polls results come what may. He stated that as PTI-back candidates were clearly leading the electoral race across the country; hence they resorted to new tactics to deny provision of the Form 45 to PTI polling agents to alter the results of the elections. Musaddiq revealed that they were receiving complaints from various constituencies across the country that PTI polling agents were not being provided Form 45 despite completion of the elections process long ago. He stated that PTI candidates were not providing Form 45 in National Assembly constituencies including NA6, NA-10, NA-41, NA-43, NA-44, NA-71, NA-150, NA-151, NA-209, NA-242 and several others hitherto. Musaddiq went on to say that PTI’s workers and polling agents were subjected to torture by the police and all sorts of attempts to sabotage and disrupt the polling process. He urged that the electoral watchdog should take the notice of these incidents and ensure provision of Form 45 to the candidates sans any further delay. Musaddiq demanded that the electoral body should take strict action against the staff involved in these irregularities and punish them.
Despite earlier assurances to businesses and voters, govt keeps internet off g
BUSINESSES WERE AFFECTED ALONG WITH ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AS CELLULAR SERVICES REMAINED OFF INTERNET SHUT DOWN PROFIT ABDULLAH NIAZI
Rights organisations, politicians, businesses, and international observers all cried foul as the federal caretaker government went back on its earlier assurances to keep internet services up and going. Amnesty International made a statement one hour after polls closed at 5PM calling the barring of cellular services calling the decision to suspend telecommunications and mobile internet services on an election day “a blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.” “It is reckless to impede access to information as people head out to polling stations on the heels of devastating bomb blasts and what has been an intense crackdown on the opposition in the lead up to the elections in the country,” said Livia Saccardi, Interim Deputy Director for South Asia at Amnesty International. The shut down of the internet took place in suspicious circumstances on election day. Earlier, an order of the Sindh High Court had directed the government and the PTA to ensure uninterrupted internet services till the polling day. Despite this the caretaker interior minister had told a press conference that they would only shut down internet services if a certain district requested it because of the security situation. However, voters all over the country woke up to cellular services being shut down which made life difficult for camp officers of different political parties, especially the PTI whose candidates are running as independents in this election. The PTA had earlier said it had not yet received any instructions from the government regarding an internet shutdown and that internet services would work without
any interruption on Thursday. Because of this, many businesses and individuals whose livelihoods are attached to internet services also remained unable to go about their days. One of the groups most immediately affected by internet shutdowns are gig workers. These are daily workers that earn their money on platforms such as Careem, Foodpanda, and Indrive. These people require stable internet access through mobile phone data to do their jobs. Over these days, Foodpanda and services such as Careem were out of service because their captains and riders had no way of accepting rides/orders or of following maps. To put things in context, there are over 13000 foodpanda and Bykea riders, 30,000 Uber and Careem captains, and around 12,000 Foodpanda home chefs whose daily wages are dependent on broadband data. Similarly, the shutdowns also have a serious impact on freelancers. A large number of Pakistanis work for foreign clients remotely on platforms such as Fivver and Upwork providing services ranging from coding to content writing and search engine optimization. The gig-economy is an emerging sector in Pakistan. Freelancers in the country earned around $400 million in both 2021 and in 2022 which accounts for about 15% of Pakistan’s total $2.6 billion ICT (information-communication-technology) exports. On top of this, Point of Sale (POS) machines, often known as debit/credit card machines, use sims to establish a network connection and make digital payments. The severance of mobile internet signals has rendered these machines temporarily obsolete, limiting everyone to cash payments only. Back in May 2023 when former prime minister Imran Khan had been arrested, internet services had been shut down. Back then Reuters had reported that Pakistan’s main digital payment systems fell by around 50% the day after former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest. HBL,
A policy abyss OPINION
AMMAR H. KHAN
Pakistan is stuck in a lowgrowth trap. The population is growing at a rate of 2.5 percent per annum, while economic growth remains sluggish, and doesn’t even cover population growth rate. At least 40 percent of children aged under five in the country are stunted, while there are more than 20 million children out of school. Inflation continues to erode purchasing power, with price levels having more than doubled in the last five years. Productive capacity of the country continues to diminish, while consumption makes up almost 100 percent of total GDP, largely financed by foreign-currency denominated imports. Electricity consumption per capita has remained flat in the last five years, while electricity is simply not affordable for either households, or industries to generate economically competitive products. As the population grows, and productive capacity dwindles, national output remains largely a function of importdriven consumption, rather than investments, or exports. A lopsided economic model that can only generate growth given availability of foreign currency, mostly through external debt, funded by a mix of multilateral institutions, and friendly countries, who may also be fed up with never ending demand for rollovers, and more debt. Economic growth is beholden to the availability of external debt – in the absence of which growth crashes to below population growth levels, wiping out incomes, and purchasing power in the process. Despite deterioration on most economic, and social indicators, the political parties competing in the general elections have little to offer in terms of any policy guidance, or plans that can pull the country out of the low-growth trap. The manifestos by all major, and even minor political parties are a collection of wish lists, with no plan on how those wishes can be brought to fruition. If wishes were horses, our political parties would be unicorns – but we are effectively stuck with a collection of geriatrics with nothing to offer in terms of a coherent economic plan, or policy framework. Absence of a coherent economic plan, and absolutely no focus on development of a policy framework that can provide guidance on how the country can remove itself from a low-growth trap has led to a situation where political parties do not have anything to offer. The political leadership is still stuck in the 1990s, and has yet to enter the twenty-first century. None of the political parties have any dedicated economic or social policy wings. In absence of such discourse even within political parties, any political party that is able to make a government does not have any plan to fix any problem. It then takes a few months, or quarters to do firefighting, get into an inevitable program with the IMF, and then maybe start delivering. By the time any elected government gets to a point where it can start enacting sound long-term policy, it is already too late, considering the way democratic governments are transitioned out. Absence of policy direction at political party level eventually leads to reactive decision making by the government, wherein now the elected government remains beholden to vested interests of those operating the system. Due to the same, the ability to develop policies with a long-term orientation remains absent, further strengthening the status quo. In absence of any policy thought, or long-term orientation towards a consistent policy framework, the bureaucracy continues to operate with the philosophy of kicking the can down the road – and the same has been happening for decades at this point. Eventually the road gets rocky, and that rocky road leads to the end of a cliff. The country is on the rocky road right now, the can doesn’t have much more distance to cover. If the bureaucracy, and the political leadership continues to kick the can down the road, it will eventually lead to the end of the cliff. Policy inaction, and inability to take decisions continues to succumb to the population of this country to abject misery, and it is only going to get worse. Policies developed have a pro-rich tilt, largely to serve vested interests of a few thousand households, rather than the millions of households that exist in the country. Absence of a long-term sustainable policy framework will continue to serve interests of the prorich tilt, while pushing everyone else over the cliff into an abyss. It is time that political leadership, or the shadow leadership that exists understands that we cannot kick the can down the road anymore. The country does not have much time left. The demographic dividend will become a demographic liability, and today’s problems will compound to become much bigger existential problems. We can either work towards a country that exists for everyone, and makes everyone healthy and prosperous, or we can work towards serving the interests of a few thousand rent-seeking households.
High voter turnout reflects public commitment to country’s future: PM ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Thursday congratulated the nation on the “successful” and “peaceful” conduct of general elections, noting that high voter turnout clearly reflected the public commitment to shaping the country’s future. “The participation and enthusiasm of the people of Pakistan have been the cornerstone of this democratic exercise. The high voter turnout is a clear indication of public commitment to shaping the future of our country,” the prime minister wrote on his X (erstwhile) handle. He appreciated the efforts of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), interim provincial governments, armed forces, civil armed forces, police, law enforcement agencies, election staff, media, and all those institutions and individuals who contributed to the conduct of the free and fair elections.
PM Kakar said that the momentous occasion was not just a testament to the resilience and strength of the country’s democratic processes but also the indomitable spirit of the Pakistani people. He said that the voices, expressed through the votes, would contribute to the fortification of the country’s democracy, and for that, the people of Pakistan deserved every bit of appreciation. The premier said that despite few incidents of terrorism in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the efforts of armed forces, civil armed forces, LEAs, civilian administration and ECP for conducting free and fair elections across the country were commendable. “Their unwavering commitment to their duties has been instrumental in the smooth conduct of the elections.” He said that in the face of adversity, the people of Pakistan had shown remarkable courage and determination.
He said that the institutions’ resolve in the aftermath of the recent terrorism incidents, continuing to participate in the electoral process, was a powerful statement against the forces that sought to destabilise the nation. It underscores our collective desire for peace, stability, and prosperity, he added “Once again, I congratulate the nation on this historic achievement. May this election be a harbinger of a brighter, more prosperous future for Pakistan,” the prime minister remarked. Visit to polling stations of twin cities Earlier in the day, caretaker Premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar visited various polling stations in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as the voting process for General Elections 2024 is underway across the country. The prime minister took a round of the polling stations in G-6 sector of Islamabad and Arid University of Rawalpindi and others. He also talked to the polling staff and inspected the voting process as well as the fa-
cilities provided to the voters. The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the security and the facilities for the voters.
He interacted with the voters, and shook hand with them, who also had photographs with him.