From cricket to politics to governance, Pakistani discourse is heavily punctuated with cynicism and conspiracy theories. The root cause for this pervasive cynicism and proclivity to conspiracy theories is widespread injustice and lack of accountability. This injustice in turn stems from a paralysed law enforcement and criminal investigation apparatus which is neither transparent nor independent. As a result, crimes are swept under the rug and you will rarely find a smoking gun which brings a crime into the spotlight and crystallises the various underlying causes in a way that denying them becomes untenable and addressing them becomes unavoidable. When crime is not punished, crime multiplies; and unfortunately that’s where we are in Pakistan.

One exception, however, comes to mind in shape of the spot-fixing saga of 2010. Match-fixing rumours have hounded Pakistan cricket for as long as one can remember but the spot-fixing scandal exposed Pakistan cricket’s ugly underbelly in uncomfortable lurid detail.

At the same time, it afforded an opportunity to set our house in order. The exemplary punishments meted out to the involved players and the establishment of an anti-corruption unit by the PCB have gone a long way to rid Pakistan of the match-fixing menace.

Cynics may argue that justice smoothly took its course in this case because the legal process unfolded outside Pakistan; but the lessons learnt from the whole episode are priceless nonetheless. Had it not been for the elaborate sting operation conducted by a British tabloid, match-fixing allegations would have lingered endlessly and the corruption culture in cricket would have become further entrenched.

The NADRA voter verification reports from NA-256, NA-258 and PS-114 afford us a similar golden opportunity to address voting irregularities. The reports have laid bare every trick in the book that can be used to manipulate election results.

The spontaneous protests against alleged rigging that popped up across the country in the wake of the general election eventually petered out but the aggrieved parties have relentlessly pursued their cases in the election tribunals since then. As a result, the issue has refused to die.

The election tribunal for NA-256 ordered a partial verification of votes on August 20. NADRA released its findings on October 7 and the results are eye-opening to say the least. The released report shows the extent of rigging and the flaws that pervade the election process.

Out of the approximately 85000 votes NADRA attempted to verify, 57000 were unverifiable because of unreadable finger prints. Only a paltry 7000 found exact finger print matches. The remaining 21000 votes were outright cases of assorted fraud varieties. Invalid NIC numbers, out-of-constituency votes, votes without finger prints and finger print authentication failures add up to 21000 votes. Throughout Pakistan’s storied history, countless people have taken liberty with her honour. Add 21000 more to that list.

The NADRA reports from NA-258 and PS-114 don’t paint a pretty picture either and seem to indicate across-the-board rampant rigging of pandemic proportions.

Election results have been challenged across the length and breadth of the country and tribunals are hearing arguments from the aggrieved parties. Proceedings on 400 rigging complaints are pending in 14 tribunals. One hopes that these tribunals will not hesitate to order voter verification akin to the exercise undertaken in the aforementioned constituencies. The entire election process needs to be cleansed, and the only way to get the ball rolling on that is to closely audit the May 2013 election.

Since General Musharraf’s unceremonious departure, Pakistan has not been shy to trumpet its alleged democratic credentials on the world stage. But if these democratic credentials are erected on voting irregularities, the likes of which have been brought to fore recently, the public will be quick to be disillusioned by the entire democratic exercise.

Here, it is also pertinent to mention that the security situation in the lead up to the election was far from ideal. While the entire election campaign was conducted in a climate of fear, MQM and ANP bore the brunt of the terrorist attacks. When certain parties are singled out for terrorist attacks at the exclusion of others, claims of the election being “free and fair” seem decidedly hollow.

In the light of NADRA’s findings, it is incumbent upon the election commission (ECP) to address voter grievances and make the election process fair and transparent. The release of these reports should serve as a launching pad for reform which restores trust in the election process. The next election is still 5 years away, but the ECP has a lot on its plate. If voter fraud is to be eliminated and the security situation is to be improved, the time to act is now.