Adil Najam
We want to do a blogging experiment (which requires us to put all comments under moderation) and really let our readers write this post on Pakistan’s Elections 2008. What we are doing is not unique, but there is a twist to how we wan to do it.
First, here is the question we want you to answer for us:
Please tell us which political leader or party you support, or you think should be supported, in Pakistan’s elections 2008 and why?
Now, here are the rules – and we will implement these rules strictly, so please do read them carefully. All comments that meet these criteria will be published. Comments that do not meet these criteria will not.
Rule #1: It is not enough to say who you think should be supported, you need to tell us WHY you think they should be supported. In fact, getting to the WHY is the only real point to the exercise.
Rule #2: We understand the importance of comparison and competition in politics, but you are NOT allowed to say who should NOT be supported (or why they should not be supported). You can only tell us who should be supported and why. You can only tell us who you think is ‘good’ and what is ‘good’ about them. Any mention at all of who you think is ‘bad’ or what is ‘bad’ about others will disqualify the comment.
Rule #3. Please do not try to be too “clever.” We are sure you are all very bright and we also know that you are passionate about your preferences. All of that is very good. However, in our moderation we will err on the side of caution and delete any attempt at all to circumvent Rule #2. So, please read your comment carefully before submission to make sure that it cannot be inadvertently understood as an attempt to get around Rule #2.
Rule #4. This brings us to our last and final rule. All comments on this post are placed automatically in moderation and will appear only after a system moderator approves them as having met the rules laid out here. Over the next couple of days we will try to look at the moderation queue as often as we can to reduce the time that comments stay in moderation. However, do please expect some delays between your posting a comment and its appearing here. Also, if you feel that your comment has been moderated, you are welcome to repost the comment this time wording it in a way that meets all these rules, especially Rule #2. While commenters are welcome to post comments more than once – especially if they are building on someone else’s comment – we will remove multiple comments from the same person if the content is the same or very similar; please, do not try to spam us with such repeated comments.
If you think that your leader or party has not gotten a fair deal from us at ATP or the media or the electorate, here is your opportunity to make a case for them. You can make a case for anyone you want. You just cannot make a case against anyone.
I realize that we do often make choices based primarily on what or who we do not like, rather than who or what we like. There is nothing wrong per se with that, but for our purpose we are taking that option off the table.
Too many of us take too much please, too often, in being cynical. Therefore, I suspect that focusing on our positive energies might turn out to be rather difficult for some of our readers. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.
In my constituency I will vote for a person who is honest, reliable and sincere, irrespective of any party or party leader.
Tehrik-e-Insaf
Imran is by far the only Pakistani leader who keeps people’s trust supreme. Bold, honest and well-educated, he hasn’t learnt to give up faced with adversity. He has been working for the nation for years patiently and selflessly. He deserves our support in bringing Pakistan’s derailing train back on track. May Allah succeed him in his noble efforts.
Imran Khan
He stands out for he is principled given when he said that he will boycott these duff elections, gues what HE HAS!
Feimanallah
Wasim
I firmly believe that my vote should go to Imran Khan.
The reasons:
1) The upcoming youth that will join the voters’ lists in the future shall preferrably vote for him, provided we assume Imran campaigns to every corner of Pakistan.Plus a huge chunk of Pakistan’s population is young, and once they join as voters, they will like to have new faces in governance.
2) The work in his constituency proves he has done a good amount of work during his tenure as an MNA. An example is the costs he covered to make the same roads was way below the costs the Government incurred to construct roads in Mianwali.
3) He is known to have support in Waziristan and adjoining areas of NWFP. That will help in appeasing the populace over there and also lead to negotiations with militants that can bear well for Pakistan.
4) He is an honest, upright man who has the potential to say ‘no’ to those who are wrong. The test for him was evident when he was offered the seat of the PM way back after 2002 elections.
My second choice would be Aitzaz. He is a man of conscience and of great stature. His personality truly aligns with leaders who have integrity, who believe in themselves and who assert the ‘real’ emotions of the public.
I’ll make this post about pros and cons of my choice, which does not violate any of the rules for this poll.
My family has traditionally voted for ML but this time I would hoot for PPP because they are the ideal candidate for continuation of Musharraf era policies, sans dictatorship and military intervention. This would sound ludicrous to some, but I feel that the country has had a sense of direction for the first time in its history, and we gave up the path of appeasing everyone and not going anywhere.
Decisions were made, successful or not, but under a clearly distinguishable and consistent philosophy, and not a hodge podge of lets do this and that as well. Policies were based on vision and strategy, rather than popularism. I think that Pakistan will be indebited for a long time for some of the things that originated in Musharraf’s time. Its a story for another time that why we seem to have unfortunately fallen face down in an effort to move forward.
Despite the fall, I believe in progress, and now that the time for Musharraf to fade away seems to be on the horizon, I think that PPP has the right mindset and credentials to pick it up where he would leave and make it better. I feel that Musharraf has thus far being clinging on to power because he feels that no-one else can/will do what he wishes to do for the country; he will feel more comfortable ceding control to a party that has similar ideology to his own and that also has the means and credibility to execute the policies. Musharraf almost facilitated BB’s path by installing Gen. Kiyani as the COAS (who was BB’s military secretary in her premiership days, and who strongly advocates professionalism in the Army and relying on peoples support for victory in northern areas and elsewhere). Musharraf also did not leave the Q-League with any more big cards to play after re-electing him to the presidency.
Its a pity that BB is no more. I am not old enough to have first hand analytical knowledge of her 93 and 88 era deeds, but this time around she looked much more matured. Its a shame to waste a leader like that after all the grooming has been done.
My choice, however, is not without reservations. In the short term, I fear that because of BB’s death, there will be tendencies of vengeance seeking and confrontation with the Musharraf Presidency in PPP, which might send the country back to 58-2B era, or worse. From what I have seen of Zardari recently, he has been composed and reasonable. I hope that he continues to be so and does not go down this path.
I also worry about characters like Rehman Malik in the party, who being the security adviser and having served as a FIA director in the past, has shown much incompetence in the occurrence and aftermath of the Dec 27 incident. There are plenty of other Chamchay and Lotay too that make PPP not an ideal party.
In the longer term, I am also not comfortable with the feudal associations of PPP, and now that BB is dead I have no hope that anyone in PPP will attempt to dissociate the party from those roots until perhaps until the next BB (Bilawal) takes over.
Despite the reservations, I feel that PPP’s direction is correct (by my compass), and because of that the added baggage might be worth it.