IN the recent elections, I was posted as an assistant presiding officer (APO). I was fascinated to become a part of the process as I always wanted to have first-hand experience of the ground realities. While executing the assignment, I was intrigued by the lack of general awareness among the voters. It was clear to me that without improvement in the level and standard of education, the true spirit of democracy would struggle to prevail in the country.

I was posted in a school of a remote village; so remote that I could not find it even on Google map. The road towards the village was full of potholes, and the school building looked like a ruin with no water, no washroom and no lights. The silver lining on this rather dark cloud was the local people who were hospitable to the core.

On the day itself, I was surprised at the enthusiasm of people at the polling station. Young and old, women and the handicapped were all waiting in the queue to vote for their favourite candidates.

Despite this zeal and commitment, it was surprising that the people generally were not aware of the fact that they had to cast two votes; one for the National Assembly, and the other for the provincial. It was obvious that the candidates in that constituency had either failed to educate the voters properly, or had not bothered about it all.

If that was merely a ‘technical’ issue, there was a bigger surprise in store for me as the voting process continued. The people did not know and were not interested in knowing who the candidates were. All that mattered to them was the symbol allotted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to individuals and political parties.

After the polls, I interacted with a few of the voters, and asked them why they had been voting the same political party for years despite the fact that the village had remained deprived of the most basic of facilities, like electricity, roads, schools and even potable water. Their sole justification was the sacrifices rendered by the leaders of that particular political party over the last more than four decades. This, to me, was the worth of Pakistani democracy. The cult of either a person or a family prevails over performance.

It is people’s right to vote for anyone, but at least they should know that the provision of basic facilities is also their right, and those who have not delivered over decades need to be held accountable.

The people of rural areas are particularly vulnerable to emotional exploitation by political demagogues.

It is only through educating the masses that we can hope to have enlightened voters in the years to come; voters who would know the worth of their vote, and would use it as an accountability tool. Democracy without an enlightened electorate will continue to have little chance, if any, to turn things around for the country. Let us give ourselves a chance.

Faisal Ahmed
Khairpur Mirs

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2024