At the time of writing this piece, the polling process for the by-election in NA-75 (Daska), is underway. And, almost customarily, the entire politico-media machine of Pakistan has been consumed by this momentary event of fleeting political significance. What is at stake in the election? Well, for the most part, nothing at all. Yes, one of the contesting candidates/parties will win a seat in the Parliament. But that’s all. The seat, regardless of who wins it, will have no bearing on the balance of power in our chambers of democratic governance. Regardless of who wins, the residents of Daska will continue to toil in the everyday miseries of life; the administration will continue to function as callously as it always has; and Pakistan will see no real change in its national preferences or policies as a result of this election.

This apathy of democracy and politics in Pakistan, which frequently boils down to the personal saga of select families, is not restricted to Daska alone. Much more ‘high profile’ elections—like that of Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Senate—can also be viewed through the same lens of political apathy, resulting in no meaningful change or impact for the people of Pakistan.

But back to Daska for a moment. This by-election has gained (unnecessary?) importance because of the sensationalism that led to cancellation of the earlier results. The Daska NA-75 seat fell vacant after the death of PML-N MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan (alias Zahry Shah) in August 2020. The by-poll was delayed for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and was eventually held on February 19, 2021.

On the said date, we all saw the most bizarre turn of events. There were widespread reports of electoral rigging; several incidents of firing throughout the constituency, some of them caught of video; the presiding officers went missing in the middle of the night; and the Provincial as well as district administration, which was working under the command of the ECP, per Article 218 of the Constitution, refused to take to Chief Election Commissioner’s calls.

In a regular ‘general election’, some of these events would have been overlooked in the overall frenzy of nation-wide polling. But in a by-election, when the entire political and media machinery was focusing on just one place (Daska), these events painted an abominable picture for the State machinery.

As could be expected, the matter was immediately brought before the ECP—which was itself bruised from a lack of administrative response. In light of the available evidence, after hearing all sides concerned, the ECP ordered a re-election in the entire constituency of NA-75, much against the wishes of the government. PTI challenged the ECP’s order in the Supreme Court, but the petition was dismissed, as a result of which the ECP order to hold fresh by-elections attained finality. And this by-election, as ordered by the ECP, was scheduled to be held on April 10.

Given the controversial backdrop, special arrangements were made to ensure that ‘free and fair’ elections are held. For this purpose, CCTV cameras were installed at 47 sensitive polling stations, out of a total 360. The ECP stipulated that the presiding officers will sign the Form 45 (final results) inside the polling stations, in the presence of polling agents of the respective candidates, before they leave the premises, while no political figure will be allowed to meet the Returning Officer while receiving the election results.

Despite special diligence and arrangements made for conducting free and fair elections, the PML(N) candidate, Ms Nosheen Iftikhar, has submitted various applications to the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging that certain presiding officers had been tasked by her opponents with casting additional/bogus votes in about 100 polling stations. She requested that appropriate arrangements be made to ensure that no bogus votes were cast, and that a mechanism be put in place to tally counterfoils with the number of votes cast, while also checking whether the counterfoils contain authentic and verified particulars of voters.

In another application, she asked the election authorities to install CCTV cameras on all main roads in Daska, in order to protect against violence. In response, she was told by the ECP that surveillance cameras had been installed, in accordance with the SOPs, at the polling stations that had been declared “highly sensitive” by the district returning officer, in order to monitor poll proceedings, vote counting process and preparation of results by the presiding officers. This, for the most part, is as best an arrangement as can be made by the ECP, within its resources and capacity.

For all intents and purposes, this by-election, on one particular seat, will have no consequences (whatsoever) on the national politics or trajectory of the State of Pakistan. However, such factual insignificance has not deterred our egotistical polity to present the Daska by-election as a monumental moment of chest-thumping. Maryam Nawaz, the real voice of PML(N), tweeted that, “The people of Daska have been given another chance to exact revenge from the vote stealing government, which has snatched bread from the people’s mouth while also taking away development from Pakistan”. The tenor of this tweet, of ‘exacting revenge’, is telling in terms of the culture of Pakistani politics. We are not a country that contests its elections on policy issues—no, we are a place where egos go to war with each other in the polls.

Worse still, we are a country where billions of rupees are spent on the electoral process, with rhetoric to match the Battle of Troy, which yields nothing for the public at large. The recent Senate election of Yousaf Raza Gilani is a prime example in this regard. The contest between Hafeez Sheikh and Yousaf Raza Gilani, in the Senate, engulfed our national polity for weeks; billions of Rs. were (allegedly) spent to ‘buy and sell’ votes; hundreds of hours of media time was consumed in the analysis; millions of Rupees (if not more) were spent from the national exchequer to pay for the Assembly sessions and the PID press-conferences; millions more were spent in political meetings, partisan consultations, and all the paraphernalia that accompanies it. The contest was presented (by all sides), as a battle between good and evil. Between the forces of progress and the powers of destruction. And Yousaf Raza Gilani’s victory was hailed as a new era of democratic progress.

So what happened after Yousaf Raza Gilani won? What crumbs of relief have tricked the ‘common man’? Has Gilani changed the tenor of the Senate? Has he introduced reforms in the Senate that will benefit the people at large? Is the Senate any different in its culture now, with Gilani’s presence, than it was before? What—at all—has changed?

And if nothing has changed, then why did we spend billions of Rupees, along with thousands of hours, for such an inconsequential event?

Daska, it is feared, will be no different. Regardless of who wins in this by-election, Pakistan and its polity, especially as it relates to the ‘common man’, will be no different tomorrow morning. Certainly not because of Daska. And that reality should mute, at least in part, all the chest-thumping that has surrounded this by-election.