RIYADH, 11 October — The results of Pakistan’s first elections since President Pervez Musharraf’s 1999 coup have shown that Islamic parties are leading in Baluchistan and other frontier areas, while feudal parties remain entrenched in Punjab and Sindh, according to a cross-section of Pakistanis contacted by Arab News in Riyadh.
They felt that the voters have spoken out against the Pakistan government’s pro-US policies by supporting the Islamists and dealing a blow to the pro-government party like the ML(Q), whose leader Mian Azhar lost the elections.
Election fever had clearly gripped the politically-conscious Pakistanis who sat glued to the TV screen. Rana Khaleel, a Pakistani executive, had hosted a big party for some 50 guests at an Istraha (eatery), 20 km. From Riyadh. A giant TV set with dish antenna was installed at the place to beam live results on the screen.
Giving his reaction, Abdul Malik Mujahid, general manager of a major Islamic publishing house, told Arab News that the election results were in line with his expectations. “Pro-government parties, like ML(Q) have been rejected by the voters. This is clearly a vote against America and the pro-American policies which the present government is pursuing,” he observed.
He pointed out that in Baluchistan MMA was leading, while the feudalists were holding out in Punjab and Sindh. The prospects of a coalition government were strong, and it would be no different from the governments of the past.
An interesting aspect of the elections, according to Shamshad Ali Siddiqui, secretary-general of the Middle East Association of Pakistanis (MAP) was that two candidates — one of them still an Iqama holder and the other a one-time resident of Saudi Arabia — were leading in the elections. Shamshad predicted a hung parliament throwing up for the first time the prospects of a coalition government in Pakistan.
He said Rauf Siddiqui of MQM, an expatriate from Riyadh, was forging ahead in the polls from Karachi, while PPP candidate Chaudhury Shahbaz (former resident of Jeddah) was ahead of his rivals the Jhelum constituency near Azad Kashmir.
Shafiq Mitla, (Bahawalpur, Punjab) described the electoral result as “ old wine in new bottle.” He said the only difference was that some new faces had cropped up on the political scene. But they would not make any difference to the middle class that has been robbed of any political representation .
He stressed the need for empowerment of the middle class and the common man whose interests are at the mercy of the feudal class. “Unless there is a massive literacy drive to enhance political consciousness among the people, elections will continue to produce the same result — retention of political clout in the hands of the landlords, power brokers, the moneyed class and tribal leaders.”
Mitla continued: “President Musharraf may be sincere. But he won’t be able to change the system without mass education.
The landlords have asked openly who would till their farms if the common man migrated to towns and cities in search of education and better jobs.”
