With Pakistan gearing up for the general elections scheduled for tomorrow, 8 February 2024, analysts are debating the potential acceptance of polling results. The focus is on the credibility of the outcome, particularly as the former ruling party and its supporters allege an uneven playing field for the elections.
Recent surveys indicate that a majority of Pakistanis are likely to accept the results, with only a small percentage expected to reject them. A survey by the French market research firm Ipsos revealed that three out of four Pakistanis are inclined to accept the poll results. Only 7% of respondents expressed unwillingness to accept the outcome, while 17% fell between the extremes.
“People in Islamabad are least likely to accept the election results,” the survey noted. Party-wise analysis indicates that PTI voters and non-voters/abstainers are contributing to lower acceptance of the election results.
As the country approaches the national-level elections, set with over 128 million eligible voters, the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) urges collective efforts to ensure the polls’ credibility. Fafen’s document calls upon all election stakeholders to facilitate voters freely casting their ballots on February 8, 2024. The subsequent processes of counting, tabulation, and consolidation should adhere to transparency provisions outlined in the Elections Act, 2017.
Fafen emphasizes that a credible election is essential to inspire confidence among all political parties, particularly the Pakistani people. Despite concerns raised by various political parties about a level playing field, the fact that all major parties are participating suggests confidence in the electoral process, which bodes well for democracy.
Given the critical nature of the upcoming elections, Fafen specifically urges the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), political parties, and contesting candidates to reinforce and reassert the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017, and the Election Rules, 2017.
It is worth noting that the former ruling party PTI is part of the election race without its electoral symbol (bat), as it failed to hold the intra-party election on the due date. Consequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan did not allot the electoral symbol bat to its candidates.
