By Syed Faraz Ahmed
It is finally election season once again. Some of us might go casting our votes for the first time while others have been in this position before. Emotions are running high everywhere and discussions on government policies are being hotly debated between friends and family.
Everyone seems to have a very strong opinion on who is good for the future of Pakistan and who is a crook looking to rob this country. While some might look at this as something dividing the nation, the fact of the matter is that this is indeed an inbuilt feature of the democratic system.
Part of being a democracy is that everyone’s opinion holds equal weight, whether you are a CEO or the janitor, a social media influencer or a Ph.D. Scholar. When the election date comes your vote will have equal value.
While this is the 14th general election of Pakistan since the nation’s creation one thing that makes it stand out is that it is the first general election where Gen Z will be the majority and previous generations like the Millenials and Boomers are a relative minority.
What sets Generation Z apart from the rest of the generations is how well aware we are thanks to the advent of technology. While digital technology didn’t exist when the boomers were growing up and it was in its infancy when the millennials were young, we Gen Z grew up in a post-digitalized world.
We didn’t have to go through Myspace, Flip phones, or Scratch-card internet. We grew up with Facebook, iPhones, and high-speed wifi thus information has been at the tip of our fingers since our birth.
One would expect that being born in the most socially conscious generation would mean that GenZ would have better judgment when it comes to selecting its leader and casting its vote for the correct part. However, it hurts to see that despite having such easy access to so much information our generation still laches on to those small worn-out talking points and substance-less arguments that our elders used to justify voting for the wrong people. Thus I feel a civil duty toward my fellow members of youth to guide them on whom we should actually be voting for this election.
The Root Problem
The root problem of why Pakistani democracy is such a wreck is because we the voters never understood the point of this system. Democracy is a bottom-up system meaning if the system is failing it is not because of the people at the top but rather because of the people at the bottom.
Now the question arises what exactly is it about democracy that we Paksitanis have never understood for 77 years that one random student from IoBM suddenly came across?
Well, it is quite simple really, We Pakistanis Don’t Vote For Policies, We Vote For Political Parties and Individuals.
What this basically means is that the Pakistani understanding of democracy is that we vote for People or Parties and then those parties solve all our issues. However, this is far from the truth. One question I have seldom seen anyone ask when they are being told to vote for a party is “What is that certain party’s policy on XYZ issue”.
This misunderstanding of democracy is something that our politicians are quite well aware of. For example, a Poltician might say “We will lower prices”. We the audience would listen to him and start cheering on. Lowered prices on commodities what else could one want ? And why do I object to such a noble action ?.
Well here is where I take issue with such vague statements. Because while the polician promised an end he never specified how he would achieve that end. This is where our fault lies. In a crowd of people cheering like sheep, no one questions “HOW” such a task will be accomplished.
Perhaps that politician will take out a huge loan from a foreign power to lower commodity prices further pushing the nation into debt,
Perhaps that politician might start using our foreign reserves to lower import prices thus making commodities cheaper,
Perhaps he might raise taxes so he can subsidize certain comedies making them cheaper,
Perhaps he might put price ceilings or price floors to control price. and so on and so forth
While I am not saying any of these methods to control prices is good or bad. Each has its own respective pros and cons. What I object to is our nation’s inability to inquire about which method will be used to meet these goals. Often we are so hypnotized by the prospect of the goal that we never think to question the means. Often the means to the end cause more damage in other areas further harming the nation.
A politician's best scapegoat is to blame the previous administration for its shortcomings. And our scapegoat is to simply blame corruption. But we never take responsibility for our own ignorance of who we put into office. Ultimately it is the policy that determines the means to the end and it is the policy that we need to be the most well aware of.
What Should We Do?
Instead of voting for individuals consider something much more valuable than just party loyalty. Consider which policies will serve us students of Pakistan. I won't tell you which party to vote for. That decision is solely up to every individual. However, what I can do as a fellow student is highlight certain policies that we need to look out for when casting our votes during the election. Here are a few of those policies that we need to look for in an elected government:
A government that is business-friendly so that more employment opportunities are created
A government that is Anti-Trust and encourages competition to reduce the prices of commodities
A government those monetary policy reduces interest rates so start-ups and businesses have an easier time getting loans
A government that has progressive taxation fiscal policy so that the lower socio-economic classes aren’t burdened by taxes
A government that is pro-technology and willing to bring technologies of Industry 4.0 like NFT and Crypto into Pakistan.
If the party you vote for supports such policies which will ultimately help our youth in the future then consider your vote well spent.
