No more Bogus Election

No more Bogus Election

Democracy is just about elections, but still the electoral course has tremendous implication in a democratic system as it is the keystone of gigantic structure of democracy. The electoral progression gives right to persons to choose their council who eventually power political establishment and path of a government. In any cultured system, while using the word elections, lucidity of the whole procedure i.e., similar to free and fair is by evasion enclosed in the connotation of the expression election.

This has also been acknowledged as essential human right in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights which sates in its Article 21 that "Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives... The will of people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

The globally established essential ingredients for elections in a supreme democracy to effort are that they should be intervocalic, authentic, held according to general suffrage and by undisclosed ballot.

For being intervocalic, there should be an ingredient of assurance of time interval in which they are to be held e.g., 4 or 5 years or any lawfully precise gaps guaranteeing the citizens a possibility to amend their influential or hold up new strategies.

For being authentic means they should be liberated and fair presenting equivalent openings for challenging candidates and political parties without gratuitous limitations of law, fair entrance to media for all and a sovereign and nonaligned electoral course.

For guarantee general suffrage, there should be utmost contribution with easy and straightforward voter registration processes for society with exposed least legitimate limitations such as age, residence, proof of identity, etc.

For being held on the standard of undisclosed ballot, the idea is to make sure that no one apart from the voter knows whom he has voted for. The purpose is to avoid pressure or act of vengeance by those enjoying supremacy in a civilization whichever due to their political, organizational or financial condition.

For making certain that these essential ingredients are an element of any electoral course, there is a need to have an impartial, autonomous and sovereign establishment enjoying reliance of the citizens and political parties to demeanor elections. In countries like Pakistan which have knowledgeable extensive periods of dictatorship, the fundamental ingredients for a liberated and fair election have always been tinker with by the system to attain results as per their needs.

Unlike techniques approved for this idea have been ambiguity of their timing, making laws to prohibit ‘undesirable’ political parties who could sham confront to decree military rule, organizational bear to ‘desirable’ parties or candidates and above all maintaining a feeble election conducting body which should neither have the will nor the aptitude to make certain a liberated and fair election.

Consequently, the leeway for citizens to articulate their spirit and chance to modify their leaders and speak to wrongs is vanished and reliability of the elections is habitually challenged. Therefore, people mislay faith not only in the electoral use but also in democracy as elections are basis of the same. This is normally followed by a political organization marked by variance and volatility escalating the case of malfunction of democracy and in most cases leading back into the ferocious series of dictatorship.