PAKISTAN is suffering from what may well be the worst economic crisis in its history. Instead of contributing their share in efforts to eliminate the crisis, there are political leaders who are planning to contest by-elections from multiple constituencies. This just does not make sense at all.

Even in case of victory in, say, all the constituencies, the politician will be able to keep only one, and the rest of the constituencies will have to undergo yet another by-election. It sounds like someone is planning to cause further chaos and, more importantly, more burden on the economy as nine by-elections may lead to another eight by-elections.

This will put unnecessary administrative burden on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and financial burden on the taxpaying public. The ECP and the Ministry of Finance should consider collecting the expenses of by-elections from candidates who vacate additional seat/s. In case of failure, the political party concerned should be docked.

Ideally, a candidate should not contest more than one seat. There is a need for legislation to prevent this extra burden. The adventures and political manipulations of these politicians should not be financed by the nation’s tax money.

Yasser Arafat Muslim
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2022