Comment: Overseas Pakistanis should have special constituencies
Overseas Pakistanis cannot be ignored when the fate of the country is being decided during the elect
With the 2018 elections now looming large, the question of voting by overseas Pakistanis has again come to the fore. This issue is not as simple as it seems at face value and careful thinking needs to go in to regulate such voting.
At the moment nearly a hundred countries in the world allow for overseas voting. Some permit unrestricted voting, while others require that the voters must not have lived abroad longer than a particular period, and in some countries separate constituencies are created for expatriates. Hence, the choices are many and merit careful consideration.
In the case of Pakistan, nearly six to seven million Pakistanis live abroad. However, about two million live in Saudi Arabia alone while an additional one to two millions are spread over the rest of the Middle East. The United States is home to about a million, while the United Kingdom also has a similar number. So not only are the numbers of overseas Pakistanis significant, their spread is also particular.
The economic impact of overseas Pakistanis is also critical as a large part of Pakistan’s foreign reserves are a result of the remittances sent by them. The large majority of Pakistanis in the Middle East also live there alone, and so while they might be living abroad for decades, their familial connections with Pakistan are strong. Pakistanis in the West are also important ambassadors of the country and their success, in medicine, law, and politics, is a significant marker of Pakistan’s image. Hence, overseas Pakistanis cannot be ignored when the fate of the country is being decided during the elections.
So what should be done?
The recently passed Elections Act 2017 contemplates voting by overseas Pakistanis in article 94, where the Election Commission is directed to experiment with voting by overseas Pakistanis first through by-elections and then report to Parliament. While this is a good idea, a comprehensive strategy needs to be devised to ensure that overseas Pakistanis should become a part of the process but also not be able to skew the elections unduly.
I propose that three constituencies be created for overseas Pakistanis: one for expatriates in the Middle East, one for North America and one for the diaspora in Europe. This method would be preferable over other options for a few critical reasons: First, creating special constituencies will focus the interest and needs of overseas Pakistanis. The Pakistani diaspora has specific issues in all the major regions it is present in, from job-related problems in the Middle East, to forced marriages in the UK, and legal rights issues in the United States. At the moment there is little understanding or representation of their issues in Pakistan. Creating special constituencies will give voice to all these concerns.
Secondly, special constituencies will also be more efficient, secure and feasible. Enabling expatriates to vote in their ‘home’ constituencies will only create further problems. For example, how would the ‘home’ constituency be decided? By the place of last residence? The place of their family’s current residence or by their ancestral residence? The decision on the exact constituency, and then the actual tallying of results from both the Pakistan based and foreign votes, will only create more confusion as in close races the results might be delayed till all the votes are tallied, and there may also run the risk of vote tampering. Creating regional overseas constituencies will keep the counting of votes localised and enable a more efficient and cost effective tabulation of results.
Thirdly, special constituencies will prevent muddling within constituencies, and enable the emergence of positive constituency politics. Each constituency should elect members of parliament who work for the constituency and keep its interests paramount, and the inclusion of overseas Pakistanis who no longer live in that area, will only confuse local issues and skew the debate.
The creation of three special interest constituencies for overseas Pakistanis will be a positive step in the strengthening of democracy in Pakistan and will deepen democracy and debate in Pakistan.
The writer teaches at the IT University in Lahore. He is the author of ‘A Princely Affair: The Accession and Integration of the Princely States of Pakistan, 1947-55.’ He tweets at @BangashYK.
