Proportional voting

Author: by Nasser Yousaf

Sir: Britain is going for a referendum on the issue of a new voting system to be adopted in future elections. It is well known that the present system is unfair and undemocratic. We use the same system here in Pakistan. Under the present system (first past the post), usually in any constituency, a candidate with a tally of about 30 percent of the votes cast wins the seat. As about 50 percent of the voters never turn up, the winner receives only about 15 percent of the total listed votes and yet he/she claims to be the representative of 100 percent of the people.

Another sad aspect of the said system is as follows: suppose a political party attains 10 percent of the votes cast all over the country, as their supporters are scattered all over Pakistan, they will probably get no seat at all. On the contrary, in all fairness, they should be getting 10 percent of the total number of seats, and they will get these seats if the system of Proportional Representation is adopted. This system is used in several countries, e.g. South Africa, Brazil, Finland, Holland, etc.

It will be a refreshing change if we explore the possibility of adopting the system of Proportional Representation or one of its variants. Let us throw away a few old skeletons.

KHALID A

London, UK