Five years of democratic rule and a minimal realization of past mistakes by the politicians have made the present election different from those in the past. During the period the judiciary acquired independence and started to exert itself, some maintaining that at times it overexerted itself. Constitutional amendments brought into existence an independent and powerful election commission. Consensus caretaker governments were formed at the center and the provinces. While the Election Commission of Pakistan and the caretaker set up have their peculiar weaknesses they along with the Supreme Court are playing a vital role in making the present elections different from the previous exercises.

Dual nationality holders are out except a handful who have renounced their adopted citizenship. Computerized electoral rolls have made it possible for the common voter to verify at one click if his name is on the list and in the right constituency. A big failure of the ECP is that despite promising to provide the overseas Pakistanis the right to vote, it failed to take concrete steps in the direction. While the NADRA has belatedly come up with a scheme, its implementation within the remaining 38 days seems difficult. Those who produced fake degrees in 2002 and 2008 elections when these were mandatory have been debarred from the elections. The Supreme Court has given three days to 189 former parliamentarians who have yet to get their degrees verified to fulfill the requirement. A strict scrutiny of the nomination papers has discouraged many contestants this time with the result that the number of nomination papers filed has come down to over 10,000 from nearly 15,000 in 2008 polls.

With the nomination papers of all candidates filed, the first crucial step towards holding the elections on May 11 has been taken. Next is the scrutiny of the candidates’ papers, extending from April 1 to 7. A central scrutiny committee comprising officials from the ECP, the NAB, the SBP and NADRA is already in place. There are however reports of several Returning Officers not providing copies of the nomination papers to the general public. This will deprive the ECP of crucial input at the stage of scrutiny. Candidates should have been debarred from using religion to demonise their opponents. As this was not done a prominent politician was repeatedly called Shaitan Khan at a JUI-F rally in Lahore. That two women candidates filed nomination papers from the tribal areas indicates that democracy is fast striking roots even in the areas considered politically backward. This should be a lesson for those parties who debar women at places from voting through mutual consent in the name of custom or tradition. The government has to provide full security to these courageous women who could be targeted by the extremists.

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