Pakistan General Elections 2024

[Fatman17]

World Media Verdict on Election 2024 is Loud and Clear (PMLN PPP Please Notice)

Aljazeera
"The legitimacy of the February 8 elections has been questioned as Khan is absent from the ballot sheet."

Bloomberg
Pakistan’s youth, big backers of Khan, are “disillusioned about the electoral system,”

Council on Foreign Relations
Pakistan’s upcoming election this week has already turned into a farce, one that is not free or fair.

FT
“If one were to have free and fair elections, Imran Khan would win by an absolute landslide,”

AP
voters wonder if new polls will change a country mired in political feuding

BBC
it may look like Khan has been effectively neutralised. But instead, political divisions across the country look set to deepen.

Guardian
Military has put its faith in former PM for fourth time, leading many to believe election outcome is already decided

Gallup
Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections.

Rusi
this election is already hopelessly compromised,

New York Times
Pakistani elections are marked by vote-rigging, political horse-trading and corruption. No matter who wins, they inevitably disappoint because they are always focused more on staying in power than serving the people.

 

[Fatman17]

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/07/asia/pakistan-election-candidates-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html

 

[Fatman17]

If you don't vote tomorrow, you don't have the Right to complain about anything.
And if you do vote, you have the Right to complain about everything under the Sun.

 

[Fatman17]

 

[FuturePAF]

Compare this to what Indonesia did since the late 90s. The average Indonesia now has more than 3 times as GDP per capita.

 

[Tameem]

World Media Verdict on Election 2024 is Loud and Clear (PMLN PPP Please Notice)

Aljazeera
"The legitimacy of the February 8 elections has been questioned as Khan is absent from the ballot sheet."

Bloomberg
Pakistan’s youth, big backers of Khan, are “disillusioned about the electoral system,”

Council on Foreign Relations
Pakistan’s upcoming election this week has already turned into a farce, one that is not free or fair.

FT
“If one were to have free and fair elections, Imran Khan would win by an absolute landslide,”

AP
voters wonder if new polls will change a country mired in political feuding

BBC
it may look like Khan has been effectively neutralised. But instead, political divisions across the country look set to deepen.

Guardian
Military has put its faith in former PM for fourth time, leading many to believe election outcome is already decided

Gallup
Seven in 10 Pakistanis lack confidence in the honesty of their elections.

Rusi
this election is already hopelessly compromised,

New York Times
Pakistani elections are marked by vote-rigging, political horse-trading and corruption. No matter who wins, they inevitably disappoint because they are always focused more on staying in power than serving the people.

Story of every election; You just wakes up today

 

[FuturePAF]

Story of every election; You just wakes up today
View attachment 17124

But now “Their” thumb is so heavily and obviously on the scales, it’s a wonder the scales (and the facade of a democracy) haven’t tipped over. Even the generally disengaged sections of the public and global media widely acknowledge the Potemkin village that is Pakistani democracy. Doesn’t bode well for the legitimacy of the new government in the minds of local and foreign investors that are being wooed.

Without legitimacy, or at least the perception of it, investors will look for safer places to invest as the uncertainty will look to continue, and they fear losing more of their money. Promised 7-8% ROI won’t be enough to attract many investors as they have other options.

 

[Fatman17]

 

[Fasbre2]

If you don't vote tomorrow, you don't have the Right to complain about anything.
And if you do vote, you have the Right to complain about everything under the Sun.

It’s a sham election you know it, everyone knows it. The outcome was decided when PTI was banned.
Sharif was brought back to be pm again, but he cannot be pm if PTI exists, hence the systematic dismantling of pti by army and affiliated agencies..
Right of vote is insignificant and doesn’t matter if the election outcome has been already been engineered and decided..

Toilet republic…

 

[Rego]

But now “Their” thumb is so heavily and obviously on the scales, it’s a wonder the scales (and the facade of a democracy) haven’t tipped over. Even the generally disengaged sections of the public and global media widely acknowledge the Potemkin village that is Pakistani democracy. Doesn’t bode well for the legitimacy of the new government in the minds of local and foreign investors that are being wooed.

Without legitimacy, or at least the perception of it, investors will look for safer places to invest as the uncertainty will look to continue, and they fear losing more of their money. Promised 7-8% ROI won’t be enough to attract many investors as they have other options.

View attachment 17129

India's stock market has grown at 16% CAGR over past 31 years and is expected to continue to grow at 15% for next 25 years. Many other countries have same resources.

No matter what happens in the election, Pakistan cannot attract foreign investment, it would have to raise resources locally. I know PTI supporters feel strongly for the issue, but tying every issue with the result of the elections is intellectual dishonesty. IK is not an economic wizard and PTI will not bring political stability. Right now the only way stability can be ensured is actually quite the opposite, complete elimination of the PTI.

 

[FuturePAF]

India's stock market has grown at 16% CAGR over past 31 years and is expected to continue to grow at 15% for next 25 years. Many other countries have same resources.

No matter what happens in the election, Pakistan cannot attract foreign investment, it would have to raise resources locally. I know PTI supporters feel strongly for the issue, but tying every issue with the result of the elections is intellectual dishonesty. IK is not an economic wizard and PTI will not bring political stability. Right now the only way stability can be ensured is actually quite the opposite, complete elimination of the PTI.

It’s not the election, but the acceptance that business as usual can’t continue. PML-N CPEC 2.0 aspirations are not sustainable. Economic reforms are needed, and growth has to be based on proper management of domestic resources.

I will grant you, PTI’s overt “neutrality” to the global order didn’t help, it goes against the “bide your time” philosophy that China used under Deng, which they needed to do when they were first growing. PTI also tried to move to quickly in a system that isn’t accepting of change. It’s not a system like the American system, but one more similar to a medieval feudal aristocracy; many power brokers that need to be satisfied, all beholden to one degree or another on the international order.

But alienating the aspirations and concerns of those that are still willing to invest in the country, even at a lower ROI, such as local Pakistani investors that move to Dubai, seems foolish as well.

The oligarchs have carved out monopolies, and with those monopolies in place, it just doesn’t make sense to compete in that environment. PTI could be understood as the aspirations of the emerging middle class now being pushed back into the corner with the serf class. The middle class now has to decide if it continues to live on that way, or tries to leave the country, where others have already gone, and have set down roots, working their way up to a good life abroad, looking back less and less, to their respective home countires.

If in this environment, people are looking to leave, how does the PML-N expect to attract back top talent, as they point out in their manifesto.

 

[ghazi52]

Rohait Bhagwant

 

[ghazi52]

How religious does your party have to be to win an election in Pakistan?

Religious parties like JI or JUI have never won enough votes in Pakistan, a country founded in the name of Islam. Is it the will of the people or the influence of electables that dictates electoral success?

Umair Rasheed
February 7, 2024

Why have, say, the Jamaat-i-Islami or the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam’s Samiul Haq never won enough votes to form the national government on their own in Pakistan? We are, after all, a country that was created in the name of Islam. Shouldn’t religious parties win more votes?

Two major reasons to explain this: The will of the people of Pakistan has to be accounted for. You ignore popular concerns such as the prices of petrol, potatoes, and power at your peril. Then you have to factor in those who control the levers of the Pakistani state and society. The powers-that-be play an outsized role in the electoral battlefield with their constituency-level lieutenants (read: electable politicians, who can sway election results one way or the other depending on the muscle of their biradari or the depth of their pockets).

Whoever wants to form the government must either have the blessings of the puppet masters, or be able to harness enough popular endorsement by personifying the will of the people. From Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif to Imran Khan, however, none of the mainstream leaders have managed to unlock the second route to power. Thus, the tried-and-tested ingredient to forming a national government is electables who can reach the right numbers.

There are over two dozen religious political parties registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan. They all share the goal of Sharia-based governance. Some of them, such as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam — Fazl (JUI-F) and the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) have wisened up, which means they may do well on February 8. The JUI-F stands out for its Deoband lineage, its sway over the Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, and its consistent electoral successes in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan.

 

[ghazi52]

5 unlikely candidates contesting tomorrow’s general elections​

Due to the PTI’s predicament, there are a number of unexpected candidates contesting this year’s polls as the party tries to circumvent obstacles in its path.

 

[Significantlysmarter]

Elections start in few hours, yet I see no activity on this thread.

What happened?