Ban on Waheeda Shah; Lessons for all

Waheeda Shah, an example of feudal mentality, was obviously under the impression that as a politician running for a provincial assembly seat, she would not be asked about mistreat she will render with presiding officers.

She also underrated, or may be forget about the intensity of the moment, the power of electronic media, particularly the live footage of the violence.

The disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to PPP’s Waheeda Shah for slapping members of the polling staff will definitely send out a loud and clear message among the political circles.

The two-year ban on her contesting elections and decision for an immediate by-poll in PS-53 will be serve positively for in the course of future elections.

The ECP has acted strongly even though the decision was a split one with the Chief Election Commissioner and member from Sindh. They were of the view that the petition filed by Waheeda Shah’s opponent was not maintainable.

However, the members from other provinces disagreed and tried to persuade the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and alter their view.

When there is a much need to conduct the polls in orderly fashion as possible, a point has been made which we hope will serve an impediment to coarse behavior in the next general election.

What Waheeda Shah demonstrated was not acceptable in civilized societies. We must have seen similar incidents of polling staff being abused verbally and physically in the past.

But this verdict will deliver a clear warning to all candidates across the board that no one will be allowed to humiliate anyone.

At the same time, it was a fine example for political parties to reconsider the matter, issuing warnings their members that unruly conduct will not be adequate at all.

The issue also exhibited that the election media can in fact play a positive role when it is being responsible and concentrating on what is truly important.

Making video of Waheeda Shah’s action that resulted disciplinary action were a refreshing change from some of the other content the news media has recently been questioned about, including policing the personal lives of ordinary citizens and selling staged shows as live television.

It was a refine example of the kind of accountability it should be concentrating on instead.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=15188

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 9 2012. Filed under Opinion, Pakistan, Politics, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.