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February 17, 2008 Sunday Safar 09, 1429 Tale of informal payments KARACHI: Though low in terms of spirit, the election 2008 happens to be the most expensive electoral exercise in national history, with advertising and publicity campaigns replacing the traditional rallies and public meetings.... The election business As the country goes to polls tomorrow, stakes are high. Over 81 million voters in Pakistan will receive the rare chance of deciding the contours of polity for the next five years....   Cost within limits ISLAMABAD: Considered otherwise to be an expenditure-intensive exercise, the Feb 18 elections, if held strictly in line with the estimates of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), would be the least expensive ever in the country, administratively speaking.... Trickle down that isn’t LAHORE: Bakhshi, in his late 30s, earns his living by pasting large and small posters promoting movies, quacks, sages, clinics, shops, beauty parlours, and a host of other services and products... It’s a feast in Punjab Multan: The revised Code of Conduct of the Election Commission has allowed the expenditure of Rs1.5 million to a National Assembly candidate, and Rs1 million to his provincial counterpart, to run... Politicians defend strategy The formal position of four major political parties on their election budget was sought. Three questions were mailed to the central leadership of PPP, PML-N and MQM.... Corporate financing of campaigns Karachi: In the game of financing power and politics, there are no loyalists, all opportunists. Donations--almost always discreetly-- flow from Industrialists, real estate, commodities and stock brokers to seek to win... Rural Sindh on a spending spree KARACHI: Excluding the provincial capital which has its own dynamics and dimensions, elections in Sindh entail a massive spending spree worth a whooping Rs6.72 billion. And this happens to be a... Hiding campaign bills KARACHI: “I will speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” This is exactly what is expected of every honourable person.... Who shares election spending? KARACHI: Akram works in a recently installed small printing press as a machine operator.... Roaring business of cloth merchants KARACHI: Sale of cloth during the pre-election period increased by about 1,000 per cent, or millions of rupees, disclosed the Chairman of the All-Pakistan Cloth Merchants Association (PCMA), Abid Chinoy, in reply to a question by Dawn.... Donors injection in the electoral process ISLAMABAD: The United States and Japan have together provided $23.6 million to Pakistan to help conduct fair and transparent elections in the country. The funding is part of the overall $87... Use of money in polls becomes a norm PEHSHAWAR: Saeed Ahmad Khan, one of the hundreds of political workers who had rendered sacrifices for democracy, finds himself misfit in today’s electoral politics.... Millions spent on media KARACHI: The election 2008 is different from other polls held in the past because the print and electronic media have overshadowed other means of electioneering this time.... Trading properties to finance polls KARACHI: The local real estate market is abuzz with reports that some political candidates contesting the national elections have sold their properties in the city to finance their campaigns.... Post-election funding KARACHI: Nobody could probably deny the fact that a good part of election expenses is financed by the top trade and industry in different modes both collectively in the form of... Independents pour big sums KARACHI: Independent candidates contesting National Assembly seats are spending huge amounts, ranging from Rs200,000 to 1,000,000 on the electioneering. They mostly belong to the middle class having meagre financial resources.... Coffers open as drive intensifies LAHORE, Feb 15: Candidates have opened coffers, intensifying their canvassing to win the general elections, developing a medium-scale electioneering din in Lahore which was otherwise one of the main politically-vibrant city.... Sindh spends Rs315m on elections KARACHI: The Sindh government has to foot a hefty bill of over Rs315 million in maintaining law and order before elections and during the post-election period.... Candidates term EC expenses ceiling unrealistic QUETTA: General elections always create income generating opportunities for the people who are involved in various trade and business.... Transport to cost fortunes KARACHI: Hundreds of thousands of vehicles, including costly private cars, rented coasters and Suzuki pickups, motorcycles and rickshaws would be ‘hired’ by the contesting parties and independent candidates throughout the country on the election day.... Spending millions on protection KARACHI: Uncertainty and insecurity promotes the business of the private security companies, currently busy in hiring and expanding their operations to more towns across the country.... Costly ritual of camping, meals KARACHI: The norm of setting up of party camps outside polling stations and serving meals to political workers and ‘sympathisers’ is likely to manifest itself in a big way on the...

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