The Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) has finally succumbed to the pressure. The overseas Pakistanis including those with dual citizenship will now, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, have the right to vote. In simpler words, the fate of Pakistanis living in Pakistan will now largely be decided by those ‘Pakistanis’ who do not live in Pakistan, are minutely affected by the government decisions in the country, and who perhaps do not have a hint of how difficult life is under the load shedding, gas and water shortages, rising oil prices, and constant threat of terrorism in Pakistan because they have chosen to live a comfortable life in the Middle East, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, and the US. When they are not affected by these real issues that affect the life of people on the ground, is it really democratic to allow them to vote and affect the life of those who do actually live in Pakistan?
The bigger issue is that the overseas Pakistanis are not in the thousands, but 4.5 million in number, which means that they have the potential to pretty much alter the results in almost every single constituency in Pakistan.
There are two arguments given in favour of the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis. First is the fact that each Pakistani citizen despite geographical location should have the right to vote, and second is the fact that overseas Pakistanis contribute most to the economy of Pakistan. Deconstructing each argument step by step, the fact that one is a citizen of Pakistan by no means means a right to vote. Maybe in societies like the US and other western countries where democracy has evolved over time, and has allowed their overseas citizens to vote as a result that might be the case, but in a country like Pakistan where democracy is still under evolution, integrating the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis in the upcoming elections is similar to a premature baby delivery. In fact, even in our next door neighbour India, the largest democracy in the world, overseas Indians have been allowed to vote only recently after years of deliberation and ground work with a condition that they must not possess foreign citizenship, something that the ECP must also put as a condition on overseas Pakistani voters.
Democracy does not mean following the western democratic model to its core. Instead, we must figure out what will work best for Pakistan given the time and circumstances the nation is currently going through. Democracy must be viewed as a developmental process, and be allowed to settle in and garner strong roots in Pakistan before a move like allowing overseas Pakistanis to vote should be allowed. Also to keep in check is the fact that such a process is not open to manipulation, since the history of elections in Pakistan is full of times where elections have been thoroughly manipulated. The ECP should avoid such questionable moves that can later raise eyebrows. In fact, the acceptance of the ECP to arrange for the overseas Pakistanis to vote is already causing a stir amongst certain political circles.
The second argument that does not have strong legs comes largely from the overseas Pakistanis. The fact that a certain group is contributing to the economy does not mean that they have a legitimate right to vote. By that logic USAID, the US government, and for that matter, any investor or multinational corporation should also deserve the right to vote.
The point that concerns me is simple, and personal. As a Pakistani who has been educated abroad I chose to come back to Pakistan, and have been living here since the past few years, during a time when Pakistan underwent the worst crisis of its history. I, along with millions of other Pakistanis have lived here in whatever the circumstances, and we are in a much better and rational position to understand what changes we want in our constituency, province, and in the country at large. I might support the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, somebody else Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, and that is completely fine because we all have stakes in Pakistan and we do not possess dual citizenship or a place to escape, and most importantly, the issues that affect us are the same. The people we will vote for office understand this and will have to ensure that our real ground problems are solved.
Now it would seriously disturb me that a person with dual citizenship who does not live in Pakistan, and is not affected by load shedding, gas shortages or any government decisions is given a right to vote, because his vote will not carry the same rationale or sentiment. Would he, or should he be concerned with the energy crisis in Pakistan, or the issues of terrorism? The chances are not, because he is not being directly affected. But his vote will certainly affect the millions of Pakistanis living in Pakistan.
It should be simple: while each vote carries the same weight, the qualitative weight is something that needs to be taken under consideration, and to ensure that, the voting right should be given according to the following criteria, at least for the upcoming elections: 1) be only a Pakistani citizen, and 2) be currently residing in Pakistan.
I do not outright reject the idea of the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis, who also include students and workers, apart from dual citizens, but I think it is too premature to have it in the upcoming elections especially with democracy in Pakistan still very weak, and if done haphazardly will allow serious problems in the conduct of elections, jeopardizing the entire democratic process. The ECP and the Supreme Court should be more concerned about ensuring free and fair elections without any security issues in Pakistan instead of divesting time and energy on a delicate matter of overseas voting, which could have unforeseeable results, and will open a Pandora’s box of suspicion. The overseas Pakistanis are as Pakistani as those living in Pakistan. However, the only difference is that those who live in Pakistan only have Pakistan as a home, while the overseas Pakistanis always have an exit option. Naturally, the right to vote should be with those who only have Pakistan as a home.
The writer is a lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), Kings College, London. He can be reached at [email protected]