ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (APP): A recent research published by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) has revealed huge gaps in enabling the population of the flood-hit areas of Sindh and Balochistan to use their fundamental right to vote.

The CPDI on Thursday held a stakeholders’ dialogue on the study made by Naseer Memon, a development professional expert on climate change, disaster management and livelihoods.

The author told the participants that he compiled the study after having detailed group discussions with the people of flood affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, including women and youth, besides stakeholders engagements and inclusive surveys to gauge the prevailing ground pulse in the wake of general elections 2024, scheduled for February 8.

Chairperson of Senate’s Standing Committee on Climate Change Seeme Ezdi, speaking during the dialogue, said use of vote right was an important public responsibility that should be ensured by the masses to bring a change in their lives.

She noted that it was an uphill task to make the people realise their right to vote during electoral campaigns.

“The issues pertaining to voters highlighted in the study are serious gaps that will hamper efficient electoral process. The flood impacted populace bearing expired CNICs (Computerised National Identity Cards) can be extended by the NADRA,” she added.

Senator Ezdi underscored that the 2022 flood devastation washed away over 13,000 kilometers roads and some 1,444 bridges in Balochistan and Sindh where population was still awaiting relief and assistance.

“In this situation”, she said,”the indigenous population of those areas have lost its motivation to vote, but it is now the responsibility of the area candidates contesting polls to encourage them to vote.”

Senator Ezdi proposed to utilise the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) mobile voter registration vans as mobile polling stations to ensure voting in the flood-affected areas. The ECP and the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) could collaborate in that regard.

Former Senator Farhatullah Babar complemented the CPDI team for its endeavour to bring the forgotten flood-hit population on the radar of media and relevant departments.

“Around 10 million women in the country lacked CNICs who are disenfranchised to poll in the general elections. The right to vote should be a prerogative of the masses and not their obligation being imposed on them,” he said.

Babar said many countries like Turkiye and Bolivia despite facing natural catastrophes held elections, and their practices should be replicated in Pakistan to make the election all inclusive.

Former member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Shagufta Malik said that the disaster prone areas had lost critical infrastructure that impeded smooth polling prospects in that region.

She asked the ECP to keep in mind the social and cultural norms of the provinces while laying out its polling stations’ plans and systems.

She also raised her concerns over the growing security risks due to communal conflicts in the tribal region and suggested to ensure beefed up security arrangements.

The research author while sharing the study insights, said the targetted districts in the research were Khairpur, Naushahro Feroz (Sindh) and Naseerabad and Jaffarabad from Balochistan.

He said the study linked the polls and flood devastation as floodwater was still stagnant in those areas and the media had lost its focus of coverage of these areas.

There seven critical issues reported in the study were mainly of lost CNICs, flood-damaged road infrastructure, political influence in post-flood relief operations, accidents amid road damages, house damage and family displacement and intra-community conflicts, he added.

Almost 40 percent of the school infrastructure developed in Sindh independence was destroyed by the floods which was used for polling stations. However, the ECP wrote letters to the chief secretaries of both the provinces to ensure rehabilitation of those assets so that elections could be managed in those buildings and some Rs400,000 per school were issued by both the provinces to repair the damaged schools.

The study recommended that the local masses had solutions like expedited process for issuance of the CNICs to flood-affected, NADRA deploy registration vans in more number in farflung areas, special arrangements for women and elderly, relocation of polling station in villages close vicinity, establishment of ramps at polling stations for persons with disabilities, transportation on polling day, and deployment of additional security at the conflict-prone polling stations.