Two days from now, many of you will get the opportunity to exercise your right to vote. Even if it in means precious little in the end — especially after the active persecution of PML-N in Punjab and PPP in Sindh — please exercise your right to vote wisely and cautiously. Because whatever little it means, it still is a grave responsibility for us as citizens. Admittedly, the choices we have are nothing to write home about. Still, there are a few incredible young people who have stepped forth to take responsibility for the country. There is of course Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who alone has led a campaign befitting the honour and dignity of a major party. There is the indefatigable Jibran Nasir who has refused to cower down to fanaticism. Then there is Ammar Rashid of Awami Workers Party in Islamabad who has fought for equality, justice and basic rights. Thankfully, young women are not far behind. Consider for example Nosheen Jatoi, a young female advocate who campaigns in conservative Multan on a motorcycle. There are also some brave young transgender candidates. It seems a new truly gender inclusive Pakistan seems to be just around the corner. Most of us however, will not have the opportunity to vote for any of these admirable young people. We must therefore vote for the candidate who will cause the least harm.

Imran Khan’s PTI has been completely focused on tackling corruption as its main agenda, even though there is a lot that is questionable about the way this party ruled KP over the last five years

The criterion for least damaging and most appropriate is not a subjective one. It automatically rules out the militants who have come into the fray, such as the Allah-hu-Akbar Tehrik (AAT). These ‘candidates’ are members of banned outfits and should be kept as far away from the halls of our legislatures as possible. Make no mistake: if you are voting for any candidate who has been a member of a banned organization or is a suspected terrorist, you are doing grave damage to Pakistan’s future. Pakistan does not exist in isolation. We have to do business with the world and if Pakistan now slips from the FATF greylist to the blacklist, it will do irreparable harm to the country. Next there are members of the Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), who led by the foulmouthed cleric Khadim Rizvi, uses the sacred name of our holiest personage to advocate violence and genocide of a minority group. A vote for this party would be an endorsement of a vision of both religion and country that is completely at odds with the march of humanity. We have the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) who have based their entire campaign on the idea that they will usher in the new Islamic age. While this religious alliance is certainly better than the first two, they envision Pakistan as a theocracy and frankly we cannot afford any more of such adventures. Already, too much damage has been done to the idea of Pakistan.

Imran Khan’s PTI has been completely focused on tackling corruption as its main agenda, even though there is a lot that is questionable about the way this party ruled KP over the last five years. It tells a sorry tale of mismanagement, maladministration and outright incompetence. The party promised 350 dams and surplus power, both of which turned out to be hollow promises. After much criticism of PML-N’s jangla bus service, PTI ended up spending twice as much and has nothing to show for it. Early in 2014, PTI had claimed that it was building a state of the art education city in KP where Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Pennsylvania would open campuses. Four years later, there is no such education city to be found. Going by their promises, Peshawar would be modern metropolis attracting foreign investment and leading Pakistan at least in innovation in science and technology. Needless to say, that has not come to pass. Even more dangerous is the patronage the KP government has given to extremists over the last five years. The huge amount disbursed to Darul-Uloom Haqqania was one example. Another is the reversal of changes made to the curriculum by the ANP government.

Imran Khan was always more interested in bringing down the central government than his own province. His performance as a legislator was also pitiful. His total attendance of the parliamentary sessions was five percent, even when he claimed all the benefits of his position as an MNA. Some of his followers in their youthful exuberance or utter ignorance like to compare him to Mr. Jinnah but the fact is that Quaid-e-Azam’s attendance over his 40 years as a parliamentarian was 100 percent till the time he fell sick. This was despite the fact that he was the busiest lawyer in British India. Imran Khan meanwhile lists parliamentarian as his full time occupation and has nothing else to do, except living off the generosity of his rich patrons, who are as shady and dubious as anyone else in Pakistan. In my humble opinion, PTI is not worthy of anyone’s vote for these and many more reasons.

Despite their many flaws, PML-N and PPP remain the best choices for Pakistan. Contrary to the propaganda against them, both these parties have performed admirably over the last five years. PML-N’s infrastructure projects have helped the poorest people most of all. Improvement of girls’ enrolment in schools is another achievement. Health services have improved greatly and in the last five years, Pakistan has added 11,000 megawatts to the national grid, nearly doubling its capacity. Similarly, PPP to its credit has been very focused on provision of health services all over Sindh and has instituted some state of the art health projects, including the world’s only free of cost Cyber-knife in Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for combating cancer. Cyber-knife technology was brought to Pakistan through a public-private partnership between the Sindh Government and Patient Aid Foundation. Whatever reservations one might have about these two parties, they are finally putting decades of political and administrative experience to good use. Pakistan needs these two parties to play the same role that Democrats and Republicans do in the US. This does not mean that there is no space for smaller parties. One hopes ANP regains lost ground in KP, especially if nothing else emerges as a credible opposition in the province. Achakzai’s PK map and the BAP in Balochistan are two very important nationalist forces whose presence in the parliament will only strengthen the federation. Similarly, a reformed MQM as well as PSP can play a role in effectively representing the urban population of the largest city in Pakistan. Communist parties have never done well in this country, but one hopes that in the Awami Workers Party (AWP) we may still find a party that can at least speak up on key issues such as katchi abadis being demolished on court orders.

I have no doubt that a grand conspiracy is afoot to steal the people’s mandate. The main beneficiaries of this conspiracy are going to PTI, GDA and Jeepers creepers. All one can hope for is that you the reader will make an informed choice about who to vote for. The electorate’s priorities should be equality, citizenship for all and civilian supremacy. Perhaps even at this late hour, better sense could prevail. Vote for principled honest people like Jibran Nasir and reject career politicians who the powers that be may try to force upon us. Otherwise, this election will not be taken seriously by anyone. After all giving Army officers the powers of a magistrate is entirely unconstitutional. One fears what this development could mean for the country’s future.

The writer is a practising lawyer and a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School in Cambridge MA, USA. He blogs at http://globallegalforum.blogspot.com. Twitter @therealylh

Published in Daily Times, July 23rd 2018.