Pakistan elections are next month - will young people show up?

A lot of familiar faces will be running in February's elections in Pakistan, much to the despair of many young people in the country.

Last October, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to the country after living in self-exile for four years in the United Kingdom. Sharif was facing corruption charges and had faced a lifetime ban from running in elections.

However, the country’s Supreme Court has recently abolished lifetime bans on contesting elections for people with criminal convictions, paving the way for Sharif to participate in elections this year. His party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is widely considered to be the frontrunners in the February vote.

Sharif’s main rival is the former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who leads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. He was removed from his position in a no-confidence vote in April 2022. Khan is currently in prison, facing corruption charges as well as other charges that he denies.

Although his party has been allowed to run in next month's elections, many members claim that they are being treated unfairly.

Earlier this month, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the country's electoral watchdog, rejected the nomination papers of dozens of PTI candidates. Khan and Senior Vice Chairman of the party Shah Mehmood Qureshi have also had their nomination papers cancelled.

The third primary contender is the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), led by the young Bilawal Bhutto, son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. His father Asif Ali Zardari, who is the co-chairperson of the party, as well as other party members, have been accused of money-laundering.

The PML-N, PTI, and PPP are the three mainstream political parties that are at the forefront this year, as they were in 2013 and then in 2018. This year, the primary focus of the mainstream political parties is how the elections will be taking place.

Concerns such as terrorism, the economic crisis, and pollution are all top issues for Pakistan, but at the moment they have taken a backseat in the agenda of the political parties for now.

The majority of the country’s population is young, with 64 percent under the age of 30 years old. The state of elections being conducted this year would usually be seen as alarming, for many young Pakistanis however that is unfortunately common.

The transition from frustration to hopelessness has become quite evident among the youth who have no faith in the country’s political system and have started to look for opportunities abroad.

According to a 2021 survey by Gallup Pakistan, voter turnout for young people (ages 18-35 years old) for the elections in 2013 and 2018 was quite low. Some 37 percent of young people were not registered to vote or were unaware whether they were registered, and 27 percent were of the view that the elections would not make any difference.

Some 17 percent held the view that every candidate was the same. The survey also found 40 percent wanted to move abroad.

For many young Pakistanis disillusioned with the political process at home, leaving the country is the solution, whether it's through job opportunities, university enrollment, or even illegally.

According to the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than 860,000 Pakistanis left the country in search of better opportunities abroad in 2023. This data however includes only those who are officially registered with the bureau.

It does not include those going for educational purposes, any other routes, or those moving out of the country illegally. The Express Tribune reported that about half of the exodus - or 400,000 people - consisted of young Pakistanis.

Many young people also fear the economic challenges in the country. As per the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s World Economic Outlook, the inflation rate has neared 30 percent, whereas the real GDP growth rate was -0.5 percent.

After the terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in 2022, 2023 saw a rise in terror attacks in the country. The country is also bearing the consequences of climate crisis with a change in weather patterns, floods, and pollution.

The mainstream political parties have been so caught up in this circus of an election that they have ignored the very people who elect them. Many had released their manifestos quite late and have been busy finger-pointing at each other. Young people have simply accepted that this is the way it is.

Additionally, there have been no efforts made by the mainstream political parties to engage the youth in any capacity or take their suggestions into account on how to deal with the country’s current issues.

With many young people leaving the country, Pakistan is facing a brain drain and the political parties are not taking this seriously. Their speeches and sit-ins are simply targeting their “loyal” supporters and simply preaching to the choir, ignoring the elephant in the room.

Most young Pakistanis leaving the country are doing so out of desperation. Elections should bring hope for change, but the youth believe things are going to stay the same regardless of who claims victory at the polls.

Any political party that comes to power this time is going to be facing some tough challenges, including the setbacks in economy, threats of terrorism and climate change.

These challenges have targeted Pakistan before and these three mainstream political parties along with some other groups have been in power before. Breaking the status quo should be the primary agenda of whoever comes into power.

A possible solution to this is that politicians should not take the role of young people in the country lightly, especially when more than half of Pakistan’s population is young.

Youth voter turnout will increase if the registration process for voting becomes more accessible. Tackling alienated female voters would also go a long way in boosting participation, as suggested in the Gallup Pakistan survey. Finally, engaging youth in the political process, starting at the school level, will help generate more interest and turnout during country-wide elections.

Politicians need to target educational institutions, community centres, and establish an online presence to make themselves more relevant to young voters. Ultimately, the focus should be on the present and future, regardless of whoever comes to power.