The reports of
candidates for forthcoming elections being involved in criminal activities are hardly reassuring for citizens
who pin their hopes on these representatives helping them solve the many problems they face. In Islamabad on Thursday, a
candidate for a National Assembly seat was arrested for attempting to extort money from his rivals. He had threatened them over the telephone, warning them that he belonged to a pro-Taliban group and they would face dire consequences if he was not paid. The candidate was arrested after accepting a sum of money handed over by a police agent, in an operation aimed at trapping the culprit. From at least two other places in the country there have been reports of
candidates engaging in brawls or attempts to threaten each other and suspicions have also been voiced in several other cases regarding the integrity of candidates. Violations of electoral laws, particularly in terms of expenditures, have also in some places been blatant.
The requirement that candidates for assembly seats possess academic degrees, and the clauses in place to weed out persons who are dishonest, have obviously had only limited impact. Indeed, critics of the controversial educational clauses introduced since 2002 argue that apart from excluding a majority of citizens from the possibility of electoral contest, the provisions have served little real purpose. Observers have pointed out that the ''graduates'' present in the National Assembly have done little to improve the quality of debate within it. While the arrest of a candidate engaged in crime is a positive step, and sends out a clear message, the fact remains that at least some of those competing for seats at national or provincial level see a place in the legislatures primarily as a means to acquire influence, and wealth. Indeed, in some cases families have drawn up a method of ensuring some share in power by having a member contest for each of the major parties, thereby guaranteeing themselves a slice of the pie no matter who wins.
Whereas criminal intent is of course not the purpose in most such cases, the fact is that a place in parliament, particularly on ruling-party benches, paves the way to licenses and permits, eases bureaucratic red-tapeism of all kinds and brings other perks as well. It is however unfortunate that the country''s parliament is seen by at least some among its would-be members as a route to acquire such advantages. Still other candidates, it seems, are little more than criminals, out to make money through the most devious means. The reports of such activities can do little to build the faith of people in the body that stands at the apex of the country''s political system. To strengthen democracy, and the spirit of service to people that underlies it, it is important that the assemblies play the role assigned to them, and their members prove that they are truly capable of living up to the trust placed in them by voters who are now making their choices as the day for balloting draws closer.