Karachi’s politics are vibrant despite voter apathy

Apathy has  a constant theme throughout all of these elections, and Sunday’s by-election was no exception.

The PTI, PPP, MQM-P, and others have contested seven by-elections in this seaside city in the past four years.

Hakim Baloch won NA-237 (Malir) with 32,567 votes over Imran Khan with 22,493 due to a turnout of 20.33 percent. By-elections in Karachi were not contested by the MQM-P.

In the by-election for NA-239 (Korangi) held the same day, Mr Khan won with 50,014 votes over Nayyar Raza’s 18,116. Among the by-elections held on Sunday, Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) reported the lowest turnout.

Who benefits (or not) from low turnouts in Karachi, one of the world’s largest cities and a politically vibrant metropolis?

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, low turnouts were caused by polling on a weekday rather than the weekly holiday, Sunday. Consequently, ECP scheduled the last three by-elections on Sundays – NA-245, NA-237 and NA-239 – but the turnout did not improve.

Some opponents of the MQM say citizens are tired of almost all political parties over inflation, unemployment, and worsening crime.

Voter apathy

Among these voices is that of Nadeem Nusrat. Due to the lack of issues that matter to the people, former MQM convener and Voice of Karachi chairman argues that low turnout shows increasing voter apathy.

The MQM leader insists voters are tired of ‘false promises’ made by every party, including PTI and the PPP. “Karachi’s establishment has spent years engineering its politics, but hasn’t provided what the city needs. Would you like to see unprecedented voter turnout in Karachi and Hyderabad? “A poll on urban Sindh’s administrative autonomy will exceed all expectations,” he said.

Factors of boycott?

The low turnout is believed to be caused by Altaf Hussain’s boycott calls, the split in the party, and the growing influence of the establishment.

The successful boycott of Karachi by-election has exposed urban Sindh’s support for Altaf Hussain. It is time for Pakistan’s ruling forces to accept that Karachi is not an artificial place.”

According to the numbers, this is a valid viewpoint. MQM-P, PSP, and MQM-Haqiqi have all failed to get a significant number of votes in successive by-elections. Only MQM-H contested NA-239 and got 1,590 votes, while PSP got 272 in NA-237 and 1,208 in NA-239.

In contrast, the MQM of yore was capable of winning even heavily policed elections. There were widespread allegations of rigging in every election until 2013 against the unified party.

Polling booths

Rangers personnel were deployed inside polling booths to minimize any chances of rigging in a by-election in Azizabad in April 2015.

As a result, the MQM won comfortably as Kanwar Naveed Jameel got 95,644 votes, followed by Imran Ismail of the PTI and Rashid Naseem of the Jamaat-i-Islami. There was a turnout of 36.7% at the election there. Karachi, Hyderabad, and Mirpurkhas were won by the MQM in the same year under Altaf Hussain.

In 2016, Mustafa Kamal, the former Karachi mayor, returned to the country and formed his own PSP with former MQM members.

Following an incendiary speech he delivered from London on Aug 22, 2016, Mr Hussain was placed under an undeclared ban.

A limited amount of political freedom was granted to his party after it publicly disowned him. As a result, the party was split into MQM-P and MQM-London, also known as MQM-Altaf. After Dr Farooq Sattar parted ways with MQM-P two years later, MQM-Bahadurabad and MQM-PIB were formed.

The split seemed temporary at first, and it seemed that Karachi’s voters weren’t ready to accept it. This resulted in MQM-P contesting under the old kite symbol, while London declared a boycott.

MQM-P also lost 17 NA seats and only won four in Karachi without Altaf, a far cry from its heyday. Each by-election since then has been boycotted by MQM-London supporters and sympathizers.