When it comes to distributing tickets for the upcoming general election, Pakistan's mainstream political parties prefer feudal lords over the common people, says a survey.
ISLAMABAD: When it comes to distributing tickets for the upcoming general election, Pakistan's mainstream political parties prefer feudal lords over the common people, says a survey.
Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, PML-N of Nawaz Sharif, ruling PML-Q and Sindh-based Pakistan Muslim League-F have awarded tickets mostly to landlords for the polls, said the survey conducted by Free and Fair Election Network, a network of 30 top civil society organisations.
The survey was conducted in 38 constituencies and 59 districts of Pakistan's four provinces.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman's faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam has preferred to award tickets to religious leaders and the Awami National Party of Asfandyar Wali Khan and the PPP-S of former federal minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao have mostly chosen businessmen.
This shows that if elections are held, landlords and businessmen may again have a predominant role in Punjab and Sindh while the NWFP and partly Balochistan will fall into the hands of big business families, the survey said. Also most candidates have been members of National Assembly in the past.
According to the survey, 52 of 112 candidates fielded by the Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain-led PML-Q are landlords. The PPP, led by former premier Benazir Bhutto, has almost the same number of landlords among its 114 candidates.
Among the PML-N's 96 candidates, 39 are landlords.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement led by Altaf Hussain has given tickets to landlords in eight constituencies out of 40 it is contesting. Except for the MQM and to some extent the Jamaat-e-Islami, other political parties have ignored the working class while choosing their candidates, the survey said.
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