Elections and the Future Leaders of Pakistan

The air is rife with the yells and hoots of political supporters and campaigners of various parties, the roads are littered with posters and water bottles, at every corner you see clusters of nervous, sweaty policemen standing around clutching their weapons, beady eyes trying to keep an eye on the processions, roads are blocked, the traffic jammed. Yep, it's time to elect yet another corrupt democratic government; it's the time for Elections in Pakistan. Laughable, really.

Over time, the phrase "Elections in Pakistan" has taken on the guise of an oxymoron. Its fodder for stand up comedians and late night TV talk show hosts who love ripping into the comical yet tragic event that unfolds every time a political term of office comes to an end or is brought to a forced end. More often then not, it's the latter. Pakistanis have confounded the concept of change. Things have devolved, evolved and then devolved again. We're in the habit of taking two steps backward and then maybe, if the conditions are right, if the gods are smiling down upon us, if the feudal lords will it, just maybe we'll take one step forward and that too is more of a shuffle then a step. So many variables have to be aligned; so many beaks have to be wetted before our country can even consider shuffling forward.

The one factor that has always plagued Pakistani politics as well as elections is the stigma of personality loyalty and traditions. Voting traditions have mired themselves into the political landscape. A voting tradition is something where an individual or a group of individuals (family, regional neighborhoods etc) tend to vote for the same political party or political candidate regardless of the party's or candidate's merit, time and time again. The casting of the vote has nothing to do with merit or with what the candidate/political party brings to the table but more to do with political loyalty and social connections. Until this culture can be changed, a revolution of thought on individual level can be brought about, politics in Pakistan and consequently the circumstances and conditions of the country in general will never change for the better.

Thankfully, there is an organization that is straining against the shackles of conventionality and traditionalism and is aiming to do things a little differently. Their goals are vast and far-reaching, yet the essence is simple; to initiate a positive change in the political spectrum, within the political climate of the country on a macro scale, and within the individual on the micro one. The key to their goals is awareness, on many levels. An aware voter base is an informed voter base. The logic is this that in general the average voter in Pakistan is a rational and a common sense individual, and the more they know about who they are giving their stamp of approval to, the higher the chances that they will give it to an individual or an entity that deserves it more then most. The organization is composed of students and young professionals who are extremely driven and fiercely motivated to achieve the goals they have set out for themselves and for Pakistan. The name of this organization is Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) and to say that I am impressed by their vision, their mission statement, their goals and the way they have gone about achieving them would be an understatement. I myself am a proud satellite member of the organization.

This organization is a structured one. It's fueled by passion, but it's not controlled by it. They have set about achieving their goals one step at a time and one of these steps is a political awareness initiative called Parliament Watch (http://www.pw.org.pk). I, myself, have worked on parts of Parliament Watch but I joined the project when it was nearing completion. Even then, it was a massive task, and I can only imagine how daunting it must have felt to those who actually started the project.

Parliament Watch (http://www.pw.org.pk), the project, is designed to provide the internet-using/of-voting-age population with as much information as they may require on candidates running for elections. According to a stastic, approximately 70% of Pakistan's population is under the age of 35; so in Pakistan's total population the youth has a fairly big share. As we are all aware, the usage of the internet is growing, and it's growing at an extremely rapid rate. You, reader, are proof of this. The internet, therefore, is an extremely powerful tool for the dispersion and distribution of information, and FLP has made full use of it. The Parliament Watch project provides the user with detailed profiles of each candidate that is partaking in the elections. It provides the user with a dossier on a candidate which contains the candidate's political views, political standing, rumors and scandals of any account, the businesses the candidate has been involved in, the education acquired by a candidate etc. Also available are views and opinions of other users of Parliament Watch; one can login to the Parliament Watch website, go to a particular candidate's page and post in his/her profile whatever they think or know of the individual and those comments are then available to the public. All this information that is only a click away, if explored and perused properly, will equip a voter with all that he or she needs to cast an informed vote.

As I stated before, I joined the project as it was nearing completion and in the brief time that I was involved in the project, I got an insight into how the organization, FLP, works. It's one of the more fluid and flexible organization that I have had the pleasure to be a part of. Demands of the current world do not allow for much rigidity in the work environment as well as in one's life, so the members of the FLP have recognized this limitation and instead of allowing it to become a weakness, they have harnessed it and turned it into a strength. They have done this by completing embracing the idea that the world has changed, and is still changing, and that for an entity to be successful within the new world, they too must change. FLP has incorporated the proper, and not an overt or un-necessary, usage of technology into their culture and work ethic as is evident by the Parliament Watch project. Whats unique and beautiful about the project is not just the idealogy behind the project but the way that idealogy was implemented. The methodology and organizational techniques used to successfully finish this project sum up the ethos of FLP. The individuals who worked on this project are not geographically clustered in the same area. Most of them are not even in the same country, let alone, the same city. Not only that and this one is a shocker, but predominantly, the members of the organization have not even met each other! They collaborate on ideas and concepts, on projects and ventures via e-mail, chat, and phone. Meetings are arranged via e-mail and then they take place in the cyber world; online, using a project collaboration software (msn :P). The work load of the Parliament Watch project was divided amongst 10 – 15 individuals, who were randomly dispersed all over the globe. Team leaders were appointed, who ensured the quality of the work being done and that deadlines were being met. It's an organization that is entirely based on the concept of volunteering, so every project is pro-active, and not directive based. One individual takes the initiative and remains loyal to that initiative till the finish. The goal is not individual glory or money or political advancement, but the advancement of Pakistan as a country, a nation and an economy. No entity, political or otherwise, sponsored this organization or funds this organization, whatever is happening is the product of the ideas and funds of the members of the organization, and it's a closed loop organization with no political affiliations or associations whatsoever. The beauty of this project and this organization is that the goal is a selfless one. It's an abstract goal and not a materialistic one and to bind people together under the umbrella of an abstract goal is one of the most difficult tasks for any organization yet each individual within this organization has managed to stay focused and motivated. The members feed off each other; they keep the ferocity of their own motivations alive by making sure everyone else is as motivated as they are.

What FLP has managed to do with the successful completion of a project like Parliament Watch, was unprecedented in the political history of our country. It's an organized and systematic information distribution system designed by the voters for the voters that is self-sustaining and provides the voters with the information, which is power, to vote. FLP has made the first cut in the dead skin of ignorance and denial that is suffocating the healthy political progression of our country and there will be many more in the years to come, inshAllah.