Pakistan General Elections 2013

[CrazyPaki]

lol these kinds of surveys just make me want to work harder

 

[Ehsan Riaz]

PTI is the only party who have been never tested and who deserves a chance to lead the country.

 

[ejaz007]

LHC provisionally allows Raja to contest elections

* SHC rejects Musharraf’s appeal; allows Murad Ali Shah, Nadir Magsi, Nasrullah Baloch to contest polls


LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday, while suspending the order of an election tribunal, provisionally allowed former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to contest election general election from NA-51 Gojar Khan.
The bench directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to provisionally include Raja Pervez’s name in voters’ list subject to the decision of the present petition. It also issued notice to the ECP for April 22. The returning officer (RO) had rejected Raja Pervez’s papers after Raja Irfan Aziz, a relative of the ex-premier and a political rival, alleged that Raja Pervez had misused discretionary funds in his constituency. The nomination papers were rejected on the basis of awarding a contract to the National Logistics Cell (NLC), for involvement in the rental power projects case and in a contempt of court case for writing a letter to the Supreme Court.
On an appeal, an election tribunal comprising Justice Rauf Ahmad Sheikh and Justice Mamoon Rashid of the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench upheld the RO’s decision. Meanwhile, a full bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday directed the petitioner to produce until Friday (today) the copy of a US court order passed against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan. A voter, Amina Khan, had challenged the acceptance of nomination papers of Imran Khan for National Assembly seat NA-122, Lahore.
The Sindh High Court has rejected former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s appeal against disqualification by returning officer and election tribunal. Musharraf’s nomination papers from NA-250 Karachi had been rejected by the returning officer. The former president challenged the rejection in high court’s election tribunal which upheld the RO’s decision and dismissed his appeal. Separately, the SHC overruled election tribunal’s (ET) decision and allowed Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) former minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to contest election from PS-73 Dadu. The ET had declared Murad Shah ineligible for contesting elections over his dual nationality. Also, the SHC has conditionally allowed Nadir Magsi to contest elections from PS-40 and NA-206, while Dr Nasrullah Baloch has been allowed to contest general polls from PS-1 Sukkur. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[WAQAS119]

Just stumbled upon it on twitter. It was like wao

Disco Bhutto Song

Quoting from twiter:

If voting was dependent on how catchy your party song is...#PPP out with a remix #DillaTeerBija https://soundcloud.com/jo-gmusic/pppsong … via @ZarlashtFaisal

 

[Puchtoon]

prediction from pkpolitics

 

[ejaz007]

Has PPPP seen the writing on the wall?

By Tanveer Ahmed

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) appears to have conceded defeat even before the general elections, as it has so far failed to rev up its election campaign and has left its candidates to their fate.
Background talks with the leaders and candidates of the PPPP gives a strong impression that the party is not hopeful of making any electoral gains in the upcoming polls which are just 18 days away, and no massive crowd-pulling campaign has been launched and nothing of this sort is in sight at the moment. The security threats to the party leadership are being given as an excuse for the lethargic election campaign of the party.
The political rivals of the PPPP, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have already launched vigorous election campaigns and their top leadership is visiting every corner of the country to garner the voters’ support. The real setback for the PPPP came in the form of non-availability of a crowd-pulling leader who could woo the traditional vote bank of the party as well as the general voters. Former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, the two leaders on which the PPPP was banking on have such a tainted record that the move could have been counterproductive and because of this strong feeling in the ranks of the party, they are just limited to their native areas.
The dismal record of governance of the party in its last tenure is yet another stumbling block in the way of seeking public support because relief to general public remained a “missing commodity” during its tenure. The situation for the party has turned so bad in the recent days that it is not even campaigning aggressively in Sindh and southern belt of Punjab where it claims to have a strong vote bank.
It is beyond comprehension why the party’s top leadership is totally missing even in these two regions where threats from the extremists are minimal because of their weak presence there. The candidates of PPPP are literally in thick soup at present, as the chances of their victory are getting minimal because of the top leadership’s indifferent attitude, as no top leader has bothered to visit his/her constituency and address the public meetings even at a smaller level.
When the same question was put to Farhatullah Babar, the presidential spokesman and a stalwart of the party, he replied that parton-in-chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is addressing the party meetings through video-links. However, party candidates contend that Bilawal only addressed the exclusive club of the party leaders rather than addressing the party workers, even through video-links. The party is heavily relying on advertisements in print and electronic media to plead its case.
The political pundits believe that the assassination of party leader Benazir Bhutto helped the party in the last general elections. However, this time it has no weightage and would not be able to attract the voters because of the bad and poor governance of the party in its last stint in power. In the urban centres of the country, especially in Punjab, the voters are moving towards the PTI and PML-N and the fight is expected to be between them, with PPPP seen nowhere.
The problem is not that the PPPP has no vote bank in urban centres. But the issue is with the policy of the top leadership who has left the workers helpless, Ch Ishtiaq, a party worker in Rawalpindi, remarked. For instance, he pointed out that in the constituencies of Rawalpindi, PPPP still has 30,000-35,000-strong traditional vote bank and if the party leadership campaigned aggressively, the general voters having no particular affiliation could be attracted. “I think party leaders have seen writing on the wall that party would be defeated badly, which is why they are just sitting at their homes and making castles in the air about the next electoral victory,” a dejected party leader in Islamabad opined.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Leader]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=548957485126678

 

[darkinsky]

 

[Cyberian]

 

[ejaz007]

Maryam, Imran summoned over alleged poll code violations

LAHORE: Three PML-N leaders, including party chief Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz, and PTI chief Imran Khan have been asked to respond to allegations that they violated the election code of conduct by leading a rally that obstructed traffic. District Returning Officer Nazir Ahmad Gajana issued notices to Maryam Nawaz, Bilal Yaseen and Mian Marghoob, summoning them today (Tuesday). The officer had earlier issued notices to Imran Khan and Abdul Aleem of Tehreek-e-Insaf for similar alleged violations. According to a report submitted by the monitoring team for NA-120, some 300 PML-N workers gathered at Kasurpura on April 24 and then marched in a procession to Malipura, led by Nawaz, Yaseen and Marghoob. The route of the rally was not authorised and it was an inconvenience to the general public as it held up traffic, according to the monitoring report. The PML-N rally allegedly violated sections 34, 38 and 39 of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s code of conduct. The PML-N leaders have been asked to appear in person before the district returning officer on April 30 and explain why legal action should not be taken against them under the Representation of the People Act 1976 and other election rules, according to the notice. PTI chief Imran Khan and PTI Lahore President Abdul Aleem Khan have also been accused of violating articles 38 and 39 of the code of conduct by leading a rally on The Mall on April 20. online

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[RabzonKhan]

 

[Jango]

Polling centre
RECENTLY I checked my voting centre by sending CNIC number via sms at 8300 and came to know about my voting centre as the Taga village in Dadu district.

Although I was born in Piaro, which is a few kilometres from Taga, we shifted to Hyderabad before I reached the age of 18. I never voted in my village.

My block code is: 352020609 and serial number is 274.

In 2008, I had submitted a form after which my election centre was UC-I, Latifabad, and I cast my vote their for the first time.

I request the authorities concerned to change or cancel my voting station because I cannot go to Taga to cast my vote and hence do not want any political party to misuse my vote.

RIZWAN ALI ARAIN
Hyderabad

Expat voters: a plea | Newspaper | DAWN.COM

Blatant example of vote stealing...misuse of a overseas Pakistani's vote.
@Aeronaut, @Leader, @Adios Amigo and others.

 

[saiyan0321]

Blatant example of vote stealing...misuse of a overseas Pakistani's vote.

Previously my uncles vote was placed is mana wala even though he was born in lahore and never went over there. this happens in pakistan and will keep on happening. just the other day i was looking on news who were interviewing these people whose votes were made in karachi and yet they were born in lahore and never even went to karachi.

 

[Leader]

Blatant example of vote stealing...misuse of a overseas Pakistani's vote.
@Aeronaut, @Leader, @Adios Amigo and others.

just the other day I checked by aunt's vote and its also registered, she is not even Pakistani citizen nor dual national but her vote is registered...

p.s. checked through her overseas card:

 

[ejaz007]

Tribe before party in Pakistan rural campaign

SHAHBAZ KHEL: Pakistan’s two main parties may be tearing strips off each other in election campaign adverts, but in one district of the country’s northwest, they are united in brotherly harmony.

In Lakki Marwat district, next to the Taliban-infested badlands bordering Afghanistan, the Saifullahs are tribal leaders and wealthy industrialists who have been in politics for four generations.

The vast majority of the 330,000 registered voters are members of the Marwat tribe and locals know the Saifullah brothers as their clan elders, not for their party affiliations.

Salim Saifullah Khan is running for the National Assembly for the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), while his brother Anwar is contesting two provincial seats for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

They share a campaign base, the family house in Ghazni Khel village, they appear on campaign posters together and the slogan “Saifullah brothers” is daubed on countless walls in the district.

In this deeply traditional land of dry earth and ragged, rocky hillsides, what counts in politics is not party or policies but service and tribal kinship, and the Saifullahs are tied to the people by ancient bonds of blood and loyalty.

For Abdul Hamid Khan, an elderly voter in the village of Shahbaz Khel, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari of the PPP are unimportant.

“We don’t know Nawaz, we don’t know Zardari, we only know our Khans,” he told AFP.

The family has a hugely successful group of companies and has ploughed some of its wealth back in to improving the district. A cement plant the family helped set up is the biggest single employer, providing jobs to 2,000 people.

“We are Marwat, they are our princes and we are their nation,” said Mehmood Khan Haji, another voter.

But Salim, a former cabinet minister, has a tough fight on his hands as he seeks to take over his eldest brother Humayun’s seat as he is retiring.

He is running against JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman, whose conservative message plays well in the deeply pious area, where women are rarely seen in public.

“We’ve worked here for the last 80 years, my grandfather first got elected in 1936 and we have been working ever since,” Salim told AFP.

“I hope my constituents, who we have served for the last so many years, look at our services and look at his (Fazl’s) services, which are negligible, and hopefully will vote for me.”

Rural voters expect personal attention from their Khans, and Salim is pounding the trail for up to 15 hours every day to get his message across.

In Shahbaz Khel, a crucial battleground with a vote bank of around 4,500 where Salim admits he is neck and neck with Fazl, the 65-year-old is received by around 100 villagers – all men.

An elder appointed as spokesman welcomes Salim and pledges the village’s loyalty, but says the Saifullahs should do more for the people, give them more time and listen more to their grievances.

The family says the relationship with the people has changed since earlier generations. Voters’ loyalty is no longer unquestioning and they expect more from the family.

For the Saifullahs, as for other wealthy dynasties that dominate rural Pakistan, hearing personal petitions is vital to maintaining political support.

“Every morning there are hundreds of people who would like to meet us – they want jobs, they want transfers, other issues that they have, health issues, they want drinking water schemes for their area,” explained Salim.

After reminding the people of Shahbaz Khel of his family’s service and warning them of the dangers of electing an outsider like Fazl, Salim spends several hours patiently hearing the often-fervent pleas of dozens of villagers.

Employment is a big concern in an area with a young and rapidly growing population and a common request is for work at the Lucky Cement plant, which the Saifullahs helped found in the 1990s.

Saifullah Khan Mahsud, executive director of the FATA Research Centre think tank, said there was no question the family had helped the area, but he warned their western education and liberal lifestyle could work against them.

He said the fight between Salim and Fazlur Rehman was too close to call but the brothers would probably win at least one of the seats they are contesting.

Salim’s goal before he retires is to see through a new dam on the Kurram River, which would generate 85MW electricity.

More importantly, in an area of dusty soil, thin crops and little drinking water, the dam would help irrigate more than 200,000 acres of farmland. “My one wish is Kurram Tangi. When I have done that, I can say to people: ‘You have voted me and I have delivered’.” afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan