The awakening of the voter?

The voter does not care. This is a feudal system with enslaved voters. The voter is too trapped in his issues to care. The voter knows that his vote will not "count". Elections! What elections? We already know the result. These are some of the responses that for decades Pakistanis have been giving every time they are reminded that their vote is important. These reactions were the result of an entrenched system of voting where the rural land lords and the urban land dealers were controlling the power to make the powerless dependent and voiceless. For years the marginalized would vote mindlessly on the basis of baradaris or background. This election something interesting is happening that may not materialize into a big change this time but may be the onset of the change in the voter thinking in the future.
The election time is a busy time for candidates to visit their constituencies and meet their teams to set the plan for fighting the election. Over many decades the voting lists, the voter IDs and the voter himself or herself are "managed" to ensure some confirmed votes. The candidates belonging to rural constituencies particularly rarely visit their constituents knowing fully well that their power and influence will be enough to either buy or bow voters to their tune. The repeated question that is being asked is why do people vote for the same old faces? The answer is that most people feel that the system will never change so why waste your vote for somebody who will not have the power to get them out of the problems of "thana/kutchery" (police and courts). They feel that the power of these influentials will never let the voter voice matter.
However, a subtle change is making its presence felt. The voter dynamics have changed and the voter communication has transformed. These two factors are being witnessed in this election in some constituencies. The first factor is that the voter demographics have changed dramatically. Almost half the voters are under 45 years of age. In a few weeks, 46 million young voters are expected to play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the general elections on 25th July 2018. As far as the age categories in the youth are concerned, as per reports, according to age-wise data collated by official sources, there are 17.44m voters between the ages 18 and 25; the number of voters between the ages 26 and 35 years is 28.99m; while there are 22.48m voters between the ages 36 and 45 years.
Secondly, since these voters are not born in the same environment as their parents their behavior is different. In the last decade, when they were growing up in this country, they just saw extreme loadshedding, lawlessness and joblessness. They do not remember a Pakistan that was better. They have seen their lives being squeezed as water, gas and basic facilities have become luxuries for the common man. And they have seen most of it on their phones because they may not have dish antennae or cables in rural areas but they have cheap smartphones that produce videos and messages on a click. This has created an anger and a disturbance that is now barely controlled. They want to voice their frustration and have now found a way of doing it easily and cheaply.
At 20% growth rate Pakistan is one of the fastest growing internet market in the world. Facebook and social media have become the favourite pass time of young and unemployed youth across all classes and regions. That is why as the elections are approaching and our candidates are finally remembering that they need to go back into their constituencies they are getting "rousing" welcome from their voters. In the past few days, half a dozen videos have reached mainstream media to become breaking news of the high and mighty politicians been taken to task by their constituents.
A telling example of this was when a candidate for NA-192, was stopped by local residents who expressed surprise at seeing their elected representative's face for the first time in five years. "Where have you been for the last five years?" a voter in the video asked. Politician replied he was in the neighbourhood to pay condolences. "There have been many deaths in the last five years, where were you then?" asked locals. "Have you ever wondered why your constituents are upset?" To this that politician replied "Do you know who built this 45km road?" The answer to this reprimand by the candidate was amazing. The voter asked him: "Are you here to question us or answer us?" Annoyed by the voters' inquiries, that politician said: "You are showing so much attitude for your one mere vote?" He walked off thinking that he will fix up this man. But little did he know that the power of the video getting viral is more lethal than the fear of being "fixed up" for the young and upset voters.
Similar videos are going viral. These are big names of people who have been in politics for decades and have always managed to get elected more or less without any voter revolt. They may be re-elected in 2018 as well. However, the point is that they have never been publicly questioned; the point is that the voice of the resenting voters has hardly ever reached the media. The point is that if it had happened in the past those voters would have had to face "consequences". This time not only has this become a media talk but the fear of being further exposed by the social media has acted as a deterrent for "consequences" to be meted out to such "daring rebels".
For the feudal electables this is tyranny; for the political parties this is mutiny; for democracy, this is accountability. Many feel this is too little and too late to affect the voting patterns. However, the videos get viral faster than a viral bacteria. This may be the beginning of the end of an era of voter enslavement, voter indifference and voter manipulation and start of an era where eventually the power of the people may be bigger than the people in power.
(The writer can be reached at [email protected])