With the second local bodies elections about to be held under Gen. Musharraf’s government the million dollar question needs no guessing. How fair? Everyone understands these to be the building block for the parliamentary system and their outcome also a barometer of how political parties will do in the 2007 provincial and national elections.
The national ruling party, the PML, and MQM, the major ruling party in the Sind government, have both wanted to establish themselves as parties wanting to “play it fair.” The PML offered to work out steps for holding fair and free elections, along with the opposition parties. The MQM actually held a meeting on Code of Ethics for the parties participating in the local bodies elections. Both moves were essentially nonstarters. Despite the removal of the elected district heads — the Nazims — to ensure a “level playing field”, the ruling party’s statement was not followed up by any concrete steps. As for the MQM, most opposition parties fear there can be no fair elections in Sind. They boycotted its Code of Ethics meeting. Only the ruling coalition members attended it.
The opposition complaints are numerous. First, dozens of provincial and over 25 MNAs are reportedly planning to contest the local bodies elections. These include serving ministers, ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries. But this appears to be in violation of Clause 152 (S) of the Local Government Ordinance, 2001. The clause reads: “The person should not use, directly or indirectly, for his election the platform, flag, symbol, affiliation and financial or material resources or support of a political, religious, ethnic or sectarian party, formation or organization.” The Jamaat has recommended that the three main opposition parties — PPP, PML-N and the MMA — jointly appeal before the Election Commission. They would demand that all federal ministers intending to participate in the local bodies elections must be asked to resign from their posts.Obviously those contesting the polls should not be holding any provincial or federal Cabinet position.
If they are holding the position then they would certainly use the state machinery and other state resources to their own advantage.
Two, earlier instructions that no postings and transfers of administrative officials will be made immediately before and after the announcement of the election schedule, were violated by the provincial governments. Reportedly transfer orders were issued in bulk within the police department a few hours before the election schedule was announced. In fact in some cases these orders were issued even after the announcement of the election schedule. The opposition is demanding the Election Commission to reverse the orders.
Three, the harassment of the political opposition continues in Sind.
The way the police deals with the ruling Muslim League and its allies and with the opposition parties illustrates the point. The Jamaat is complaining that 100 of its activists have been rounded up for raising slogans against MQM parliamentarians while the police has still not registered an FIR against those mentioned by the JI in the target killing of JI leaders. Jamaat claims its leader Tajammul Hussain, who was gunned down recently, had been getting threats before.
PPP and MMA are both complaining that the city of Karachi is being turned into a “no-go area” for the opposition.
The MQM governor of Sind is unlikely to want fair play in the local bodies elections. The PPP is accusing him of having “distributed posts of nazims and naib nazims among his own party members and the allies dummy politicians...” The Jamaat is demanding his dismissal. They also want the provincial Home Department in neutral hands. Currently it is under MQM control.
The chief minister of Sind recently went on an election campaign in his hometown in Mithi where he announced “We would ensure fairness and transparency in the polls so that the opposition could not make unnecessary hue and cry and hurl baseless allegations on the government.” He also reportedly declared that the PML-backed candidates for the slots of nazims, naib nazims and councilors will be elected unopposed in the forthcoming local bodies elections. Clearly the state machinery is already being deployed to promote the ruling party’s winning chances. In Sind the objective of the MQM is to win the nazim seat from the Jamaat nazim and keep the PPP out.
Mindful of how all the ruling parties in the province are likely to use the incumbency factor to their advantage, a joint ARD election strategy, especially in Punjab, may emerge. There are some indications that the PPP-PML-N may enter into a seat adjustment arrangement, especially in Punjab. Such an arrangement would increase the opposition’s chances of denying a clean sweep to the PML in Punjab.
The devolution process launched by the Musharraf government to strengthen the local government has been a significant achievement. But along with the administrative infrastructure there is need to have a credibly elected and smoothly functioning political structure. How this second local bodies election is conducted will affect the credibility of the local bodies system. It will also be a strong pointer to the government’s handling of the 2007 elections.
The credit or discredit for how fairly the local bodies elections are held will squarely be President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s alone. After all he himself calls the shots ultimately.
