Here Is How You Can Run For Office In Pakistan

Politics in Pakistan has always been a very distant activity. The narrative surrounding politics is that it is a dirty game and politicians generally are looked down upon but have you ever thought about participating in the process? Would you like to run for an office in the provincial or the national assembly?

We are always complaining that we do not have great politicians in this part of the world but none of us grow up thinking to pursue politics as a career.

I remember that I was very young when my father would talk about his political activities and his preference for Bhutto’s politics. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was perhaps the only politician who managed to create a narrative strong enough to mobilize the people of the country. It was also the time right after independence and the political participation of Pakistanis was at its peak. But after that, the country has only witnessed a decline in political participation, up until the time of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Since my father would narrate stories of his time and I, in my innocence, would try to make sense of them; I developed this interest in politics and the belief in it.

I soon lost interest in the mainstream career options and wanted to pursue journalism and be close to the system that affects us every day. Due to the lack of priority given to human development in the country, people are so engrossed in trying to make a livelihood that whatever policies are implemented, they are least bothered. And that only highlights the state of affairs and how the people from the lesser privileged background are being alienated by the system. This realization began my quest to understand the workings of the system and a huge part of it is running for office.

You may not realize it at this point but politics affects us every day.

Person A may not follow the news regularly but since he drives a motorbike in Lahore, one day he is stopped by the traffic police and fined for not wearing a helmet. This has never happened to him before but after he talks to the officer, he is informed that the government is now implementing strict traffic rules because according to a study there is an accident every five minutes on our roads. So indirectly, politics did affect him and it does so to all of us.

This is why you need to understand how the system works, particularly our assemblies!

Running for National Assembly

If you want to run for the National Assembly (NA), you must be 25 years of age. You need to submit Rs 4000 as a security deposit to contest the elections and a person contesting for the NA can contest from any constituency. That means that if you are a resident of Punjab, it is not necessary that you contest from the province. You can contest from any five constituencies in the country. However, after the polls, the members only get to keep one seat and give up the other four constituencies. For example, Prime Minister Imran Khan won from all his constituencies in the 2018 general elections, however, he decided to keep his seat from his hometown Mianwali.

If a person has been convicted, the only way that he or she can contest the elections is after five years of his release and without committing another crime.

Running for Provincial Assembly

Running for the Provincial Assembly (PA) also has similar requirements as the NA. The minimum age is 25 years, and the criminal record is the same. However, the security deposit for the PA is Rs 2000 and the person contesting can only contest from his or her own province. They are allowed to fill five nomination papers in one constituency.

Source: news.com.pk (Sania Ashiq – youngest MPA in Pakistan)

This means that people who vote get two votes – one for the National Assembly and one for the Provincial Assembly. And it is not necessary that they choose to vote for the same party because people have different preferences when it comes to the NA and the PA.

General Requirements for Both Assemblies

According to Article 62 of our Constitution, here are the requirements for those running for our assemblies:

The person must be a citizen of Pakistan. This means that no dual national can contest elections.
The person must be a good citizen and does not violate the injunctions of Islam.
The person has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practices obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins.
He or she should be sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.
He or she has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.

Did you notice something?

There is no academic qualification required for contesting the elections? What do you think about that? Do you think these qualifications are enough or should something be added to them? All these qualifications determine whether or not a person is qualified to run for office in the country. It is important for people to familiarize themselves with these clauses so they understand how politicians are given a green signal to contest the elections.

By reading these, one realizes that any person can pursue this as a dream but why don’t we? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

cover image via worldatlas.com