ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (APP):Speakers at a dialogue titled “Missing Young Voters of Pakistan” held on Friday called for improving youth participation in electoral process for strengthening the democracy in the country.
The dialogue was organized by PILDAT in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Pakistan.
The speakers observed that youth’s electoral participation is abysmally low as compared to international democracies and unless ways to increase their turnout are devised and implemented, democracy is at the threat of being unrepresentative.
Addressing the ceremony Qurat-ul-Ain Fatima, Director Media Coordination, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), briefed about ECP’s continuous efforts to engage and educate Pakistan’s youth of the significance of their vote.
She said that ECP’s SVEEP program which focuses on new voter education and registration and conducted 443 sessions in schools, colleges and universities so far.
She said that ECP is collaborating with the young You Tubers and Vloggers to further educate the youth about the importance of vote.
In 2018, ECP’s Protocol Wing launched their internship programme in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, offering students an opportunity to directly learn about the election process.
Ms. Qurat ul Ain suggested having reserved seats for youth in the Senate, National and Provincial Assemblies and to introduce elections and democracy as a compulsory part of the education syllabus to increase youth participation in electoral processes.
Addressing the dialogue, Abdullah Dayo, Programme Manager FES Pakistan said that this organization was dedicated to enhancing the role and participation of youth in the electoral systems of Pakistan.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT, said “if youth is not led on to democratic paths then they are under the danger of developing extremist and radical tendencies, which will be a threat to the existence of democracy within the country”.
A comparison of India and Pakistan’s youth voting trends was made by Mr. Mehboob after which he put forward examples of democracies from around the world and highlighted their innovative efforts to increase their countries’ youth voter turnout.
Dr. Ammar Ali Jan, Youth Activist, Academic & Founder-President of Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, highlighted the core problem of political parties, saying Internal democracy and true representation within a political party is absolutely essential.
“We have to change our attitude towards young people and treat them as assets rather than a problem for law and order” he said.
Syed Umair Hassan, Director Youth Affairs of Punjab, highlighted the efforts of the Punjab Youth Affairs, Sports & Culture Ministry to engage youth to tackle youth voting issues. He requested ECP to conduct awareness sessions at their E-libraries, a place utilized by youth of Punjab.
