The election campaign started in full earnest on Saturday. The next twenty days will pose a formidable challenge to the political parties on one hand and the ECP, the caretaker government and the security agencies on the other. The campaign begins under an independent election commission and a consensus caretaker set up. The present polls are thus going to be different from the earlier exercises of the type when money and muscle power played a significant role during the polls. A set of election rules limits the use of money by putting a ceiling on election expenses, regularizing the size of posters and banners, prohibiting wall chalking and restricting candidates and their supporters from providing transport to voters. To reduce the role of muscle force display or use of weapons has been banned.

The regulations put a heavy burden of responsibility on political parties and their candidates. While some of these regulations have always been part of the code of conduct, this time an independent and empowered ECP is expected to implement them strictly. The support extended to the ECP by the judiciary further adds to its clout. A larger number of polling stations this time will reduce the distances between the voters’ residence to the polling stations doing away with the need for transport except in the case of the ailing and the aged voters. In quite a few constituencies in Balochistan and in some of the remote constituencies in other provinces however voters might find it hard to travel for miles without transport. Thus a ban on the candidates and their supporters to provide transport to voters may deprive many of the right to vote unless the ECP is willing to provide it. As things stand there seems to be no provision of the sort in place.

The next challenge concerns security. Several pre-poll incidents of attacks on candidates and political gatherings indicate that in the days to come the threats might become more frequent and deadlier. So far the major source of threat has been the TTP which had vowed to target the PPP, the ANP and the MQM candidates. During the pre-poll violence over the last few weeks one MQM candidate and two ANP candidates were killed while in a suicide attack targeting another ANP contestant 16 persons lost lives. The attack on the first day of the campaign on one of Jamaat e Islami’s election offices in Karachi indicates that there are other sources of violence as well. Unless the caretaker government and the law enforcement agencies are able to ensure a secure environment in days to come, the voter turnout in Pakistan – already the lowest in the region – may decline further.

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