Sentiments: One word that’s definitely the hallmark of Pakistanis. And a useful tool, indeed, when national adrenaline is pumping high at election time.
First off, there’s sympathy. The sudden untimely death of Benazir Bhutto played its part in overwhelming the nation, and also overwhelming PPP’s vote count during the last elections. Never before since 1998 did the party enjoy as zealous a response as it did in 2008 with a whopping 40 percent increase in votes relative to 2002.
Come 2013 and another round of sympathy rises with Imran Khan’s unfortunate fall. That the party will benefit from sympathy votes is not just a passing thought, but endorsed by both local and international media. For a party like PTI where the vote bank has been consistently rising, the sympathy factor will go a long way. This is true, more so, for the new voter or those who normally choose to stay away from the polling booths.
Next come compassion and concern. Leading political candidates were quick to extend their well wishes for the injured PTI leader, making the population soften towards leaders they previously may have antagonized.
And finally, there’s zeal. And that’s present in bountiful quantities this time around, thanks to avid youth participation.
“Out of an electoral list of 83 million, 47 percent of registered voters are between the age of 18 and 35-approximately 39 million people. According to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) out of these 39 million around 30 million are newly listed in the electoral rolls,” said a commentary by Abdul Basit of the Rajarathnam School of International Studies in Singapore on Pakistan’s May 2013 elections.
There is probably a lot more going around emotionally amongst political parties and voters when it comes to elections, but one wonders whether emotions can dilute the efforts towards democratic stability.
George Marcus, the author of the book Sentimental Citizens, argues otherwise. “If we acknowledge how emotion facilitates reason and is ‘cooperatively entangled’ with it, then we should recognize sentimental citizens as the only citizens really capable of exercising political judgment and of putting their decisions into action.”
And if one must believe the positive effect of emotional and political integration suggested by Marcus, then these elections are well worth the visible generous exchange of sentiments.
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