Chitral : While the world gallops ahead in progress, adapting latest scientific facilities and technologies, Pakistan continues going round and round in a circle of no joy. Elections after elections, we see ‘more of the same’ instead of any substantial difference. Primitive methods are used for conducting elections, starting from selection of electables by political parties regardless of their functional qualifications to messy election campaigns to primitive method of polling votes.

It is unfortunate that political parties do not want to change the system or at least bring about reforms in the polling procedures of the existing one? They are happy with the outdated rickety dispensation and only concentrate on how to make their way to the corridors of power by hook or by crook in this faulty polling system. No political party is interested in adopting machine voting through biometric system as it will bring transparency and fairness and political parties are by default averse to transparency and fair play.

The future of a prosperous and progressive Pakistan eventually lies in adopting Meritocracy, however?until that happens at least the election system can be upgraded with the help of modern technology. The biometric enabled National ID cards can be used to cast votes for any candidate across Pakistan from any polling station. In this way there will be no wastage of votes and 90 percent votes will be polled in Pakistan measuring the true choice of the people compared to constituency/polling station limited system which are easily rigged and exclude the opinion of a large number of voters not present at the polling station.

It s unfortunate that no body wants to bring about core changes in the systems in Pakistan and every leader is focussed on getting into power by hook or by crook and take his turn to milk the famished country. .. CN report, 15 Jun 2018