11 May 2013 | Asia and Pacific
Pakistan’s historic election is history. Historic because it is the first time a government has completed its term without being ruthlessly axed, toppled by military dictatorship or unelected politicians.
It was also one of the bloodiest elections in the country’s history. At the end of three weeks of campaigning, at least 117 people including election candidates have been killed. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif began talks on Sunday to form a new government, The New York Times reported.
As the campaigns proceeded, the rift became clearer: the Taliban threatened and attacked specific political parties namely, Awami National Party, Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement, derailing their campaigns to the point where the parties had to shut down their election offices. Even that didn’t stop the terror attacks, as locked and empty political party offices continued to be targeted. The Taliban claimed that the political parties being targeted were secular and worked against the ideology of Islam. Although the Taliban were the biggest perpetrators, they weren’t the only ones: political rivalries and attacks continued throughout the country during campaign time. Only Punjab, one of the country’s largest provinces, remained relatively terror free.
Moreover, the political parties that were not on the Taliban hit list shied away from calling out the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan over the attacks, despite condemning the attacks vocally. Eventually, as a gesture of solidarity, Pakistan Tehreek – e – Insaaf, party led by Imran Khan, announced to it would withdraw all its scheduled events for election campaigning in Karachi.
Violence, Moral Policing and the Constitution
Violent attacks by far have been the biggest deterrent to political campaigning this election, sustaining attacks because of their secular ideology shunned political workers from expressing their views, further bifurcating the already polarised political and social discourse.
But hindrance to freedom of expression began as early as the election process itself. The election commission sparked a huge debate when the nomination papers of a renowned columnist were rejected by the district returning officer, or RO, “for writing against the ideology of Pakistan” in his columns. But even more concerning was the fact that the objection was raised by invoking the constitution’s Article 62 & 63, introduced during the much-reviled dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq. To paraphrase, the articles made it mandatory for prospective political candidates to have a clean criminal record; of being of noble and sound character reflecting the Islamic beliefs and of not having ever worked against the security and interest of the nation or having criticized the military or the judiciary, amongst other things.
The account of journalist and politician Ayaz Amir was even more revealing: “I was told that in my column I have endorsed liquor drinking. I really don’t know from where the RO has got this impression, as I have not written anything like this.” As fellow journalist Omar Warraich aptly summed it, it seemed Amir was being disqualified for a thought crime. Amir challenged this in the Lahore High Court, which reversed the RO’s decision, allowing Amir to contest elections. However, that hasn’t stopped the much needed debate around Pakistan’s amended constitution, which successfully cripples freedom of speech, expression and even privacy by subjecting it to ‘reasonable restrictions’ from vague terms like ‘glory of Islam’ to a subjective issue of ‘morality’.
The missing voters
It’s hard not to acknowledge the void left by the missing voters — women, the nearly 1.5 million people of Gilgit Baltistan and the four million Ahmadis. Although their plights may vary, the issue remains the same — a significant segment of the society will watch the elections unfold from a distance and not enough has been done to ensure their participation.
The Ahmadiyya community has boycotted the elections process for at least three decades after a law declared them ‘non-Muslims’. This was exacerbated in 2011 when the election commission created a separate voters list for the Ahmadis. This action marginalised them even further. Even though Pakistan’s Supreme Court took the discrimination complaint under serious consideration, it ruled that the court couldn’t over rule a constitutional command. The past few years have been tumultuous for the country’s religious minorities, the boycott from the Ahmadiyya community might deter other religious minorities from voting.
A report published last year by Pakistan’s Fair & Free Election Network, approximately 10 million Pakistani women were unaccounted for in the draft electoral rolls released in 2011. With the exception of a few, political parties have remained largely negligent of mobilising the women voters. Despite powerful women in the assembly and strikingly powerful stories of women candidates the issue remains: How many women will turn up to exercise their right to vote? Will the stories of candidate Veeru Kohli, bonded labourer from Hyderabad and Badam Zari of Bajaur inspire more women voters to practice their rights? Reports suggest otherwise.
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Sana Saleem is a Karachi-based journalist and human rights activist working for advocacy group Bolo Bhi.
20 Sep 2012 | Mexico
The fate of a masked blogger has set Mexican social networking sites ablaze over the last couple of weeks, leaving behind a trail of mystery and confusion. A young anti-establishment blogger working under the name el5anto disappeared on 8 September, according to his Twitter account and reports from his blog colleagues. His blog and Twitter activities have all suspended since he vanished.
(more…)
31 May 2012 | Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
Egyptians reacted in shock and despair after official results of the first round of Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential elections were announced on Monday afternoon on Egyptian State TV’s main Arabic news channel. Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate and Ahmed Shafik, a former air force commander and Mubarak’s last prime minister will face each other in the run-off poll (scheduled for 16 and 17 of June) after leading in the first round, Farouk Sultan, Head of the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission told journalists at a televised press conference on Monday.
Morsi won 5.76 million votes with Shafik following closely behind with 5.5 million votes out of a total of 23.3 million valid votes, Sultan said. Playing down voting irregularities, Sultan insisted these were minor and did not affect the overall results of the poll.
The outcome of the first round of voting provoked a new wave of angry condemnation from analysts and ordinary Egyptians alike. Author Alaa Aswany, an outspoken critic of the military junta tweeted urging Egyptians to boycott the elections en masse. He argued that the second round of the vote was certain to be rigged .
”Foul!” shouted a group of men watching the news conference at a roadside café in the working class district of Boulak.
The run-off pitting Shafik, a “Mubarak regime remnant” against a “colourless” member of the Muslim Brotherhood has been described by many Egyptians as a “nightmare scenario”. The election has polarised the country, with one camp wary of Islamist rule and another concerned about the continuation of the military dictatorship.
“If either of the two candidates becomes president, it would spell the demise of our revolution,” lamented Omar Ahmed, a young activist in a Facebook post.
The reaction to preliminary results of the poll has veered between sarcastic humour and outright indignation. Scores of internet users used social media networks Facebook and Twitter to call for fresh marches to protest the “illegitimacy” of the vote.
“It is no longer a choice between Shafik and Morsi. The choice is now between Canada and Australia,” is a joke widely shared on Facebook. This kind of humour reflects the disillusionment of a public growing increasingly weary of political and economic turmoil in the country. Meanwhile, scores of Egyptians used Facebook and Twitter to call for fresh marches to protest “the illegitimacy of the vote”.
Fifteen months after the mass uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, many Egyptians feel their revolution has been hijacked by both Islamists and the military generals overseeing the transitional period. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had joined ranks with the young revolutionaries in Tahrir Square demanding “Bread, freedom and social justice” during the 18-day mass uprising has since been accused of pursuing its own interests. Some activists say they have lost trust in the Islamist group after it aligned itself with the military authority to secure seats in parliament. They also accuse the group of reneging on earlier promises not to field a candidate for the Presidency. The Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafis together won nearly three-quarters of the 508 seats in parliament in last year’s legislative elections.
Claims by the Justice and Freedom Party contender Mohamed Morsi — now the frontrunner in the race — that he represents the revolution have been rebuffed by thousands of protesters who flocked to Tahrir Square on Monday night chanting “No to Shafik ! No to Badie!” (the latter being the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood). Many Egyptians wonder if the loyalty of an Islamist president would lie with the religious movement rather than with the country.
But revolutionary youth leaders who spearheaded the 25 January uprising are now rethinking their position and say they are contemplating throwing their weight behind Morsi. They argue that “Shafik has the blood of the revolution martyrs on his hands.” The change of heart came after complaints about vote rigging filed by their favoured candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi — a die-hard Nasserist — were rejected by the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission and Sabbahi was declared officially out of the race. The revolutionaries had hoped a probe into Sabbahi’s complaints would tip the scale in his favor at the last minute, allowing him to compete in the run-off. Sabbahi, whose popularity has surged in recent weeks, came in a close third , garnering 4.82 million votes in the first round.
Wael Ghonim, administrator of the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page that was a catalyst for the 25 January Revolution, has said he will support Morsi in the second round if he agrees to form a national salvation government representative of all factions of Egyptian society, including liberals and Copts. Youth leaders from the 6 April movement have also been in consultations with Morsi about the way forward, a sign that the group will support him and not Shafik.
Shafik has been trying to court the young revolutionaries, pledging to “bring the fruits of the revolution” between their hands. He warned the pro-democracy activists that their “revolution was being hijacked by the Islamists who mean to exploit it for their own ends”. His claims however appear to be falling on deaf ears and have provoked the ire of the revolutionary youths. His supporters are mostly those yearning for stability and have faith that only he can put the faltering economy back on track.
But the Tahrir protest — as well as demonstrations in other major cities across the country — reflect the heightened tensions and the growing frustration felt by millions of Egyptians who say they have to choose between two evils and that “neither candidate represents the spirit of their revolution.”
“It’s like having to choose between death by the sword or by hanging. In both cases we die” said 28-year-old Magued Mounir, a protester in Tahrir Square.
“If Shafik is president, then it’s back to square one…as if the revolution never happened. He is an extension of the old autocratic regime. And voting in an Islamist President would mean giving up our dream of a secular, modern Egypt,” said Yasmine Roshdy, another activist who was chanting against both candidates.
“We are trapped between a rock and a hard place,” said another protester who added that he had voted for Sabbahi in the first round.
In a repeat scenario of earlier protests, unidentified attackers stormed the square at midnight Monday attempting to break up the demonstration. A few hours earlier, Shafik’s Cairo campaign headquarters in Dokki was ransacked and set ablaze. Many Egyptians fear that the violence may be the start of worse unrest to come.
Journalist Shahira Amin resigned from her post as deputy head of state-run Nile TV in February 2011. Read why she resigned from the “propaganda machine” here.
