Election fever
The first day of obtaining nominations saw the February 8 elections become more certain
THE election schedule issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan became operational on Wednesday, the first day when nomination papers became available. As nomination papers may be filed on the same days as they may be obtained, some candidates were quick of the mark, and were able to fill out the form and file it the same day, including 16 candidates for Karachi, one of whom was Mustafa Kamal, the former Nazim. Many prominent politicians obtained forms, including Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shehbaz Sharif. However, the situation will become much clearer after Friday, when both the issuing and receipt of nomination papers will come to a halt.
The main point of interest is PTI chief Imran Khan. Even though he is in jail, the new PTI Chairman, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, has announced that Mr Khan will be contesting from three constituencies, in Mianwali, Islamabad and Lahore. He has contested before from Mianwali and Lahore, but Islamabad will be unexplored territory for him. However, there is a doubt over whether he can contest any constituency at all. He was disqualified in the Toshakhana case, and subsequently disqualified, but the suspension of that sentence had left him free of that disqualification. However, he is presently being tried in the cipher case, and an unfavourable verdict would create problems. At least he will get his nomination papers. PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also in Adiala Jail and undergoing the same trial, had his nomination papers confiscated. According Barrister Gohar, PTI candidates are facing such difficulties. Piling on the misery, on Wednesday, the Rawalpindi police obtained arrest warrants for 63 people nominated in the May 9 attacks case, and said that they would write to all Returning Officers urging them to reject their nomination papers, and to arrest them. The list includes five former ministers, six ex-mnas and seven ex-mpas. The PTI will thus enter the contest without its leader, or even the next tier of leadership.
The polls will take place, and the campaign will take place, but without the PTI allowed to compete unhindered, it is possible that the election campaign will not witness the traditional verve and enthusiasm. The Code of Conduct which the ECP issued may have called for not abusing other candidates, or for caretakers to stay out of the polls, but of itself it will not guarantee the kind of election that all will accept.