Ranger helps an electoral worker, who along with others gather to collect election materials, ahead of general election in Karachi, Pakistan July 24, 2018. Photo: Reuters
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military fanned out across the country ahead of Wednesday’s election, deploying hundreds of thousands of troops to oversee polling stations in a short but acrimonious contest that analysts say is still "up for grabs".
Armed soldiers watched closely as election officials in the capital Islamabad Tuesday distributed ballot boxes and voting materials for polling stations across the city.
A Pakistani soldier stands guard as an election official carries election materials at a distribution centre in Islamabad on July 24, 2018. Pakistan will hold its general election on July 25. Photo: AFP
The armed forces have stationed over 370,000 personnel nationwide to ensure the vote goes smoothly — the largest such deployment in Pakistan’s history on an election day.
"Deployment of troops completed across the country," the military said in a statement late on Monday, saying the troops would work with local law enforcement to ensure "a safe and secure environment" for voting.
Soldiers arrive to guard at the judicial complex where election material will be distributed ahead of general election in Rawalpindi, Pakistan July 24, 2018. Photo: Reuters
Despite controversies and bloodshed, political parties continued to criss-cross the country in the final days before the polls, holding dozens of rallies in key battleground areas.
The contest has largely been distilled to a two-party fight between jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, and cricketing legend Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
"Our predictions are very murky right now," Bilal Gilani, executive director of Gallup Pakistan, told AFP, adding that a huge chunk of voters remain undecided. "It’s still up for grabs."
Political parties held their final rallies Monday night — before campaigning was suspended — in a last-ditch attempt to energise voters.
Soldiers arrive to guard at the judicial complex where election material will be distributed ahead of general election in Rawalpindi, Pakistan July 24, 2018. Photo: Reuters
"I am giving this task to all of you to wake up early on the 25th and cast your vote," Khan told thousands of party faithful in the eastern city of Lahore.
In southern Punjab, PML-N leader and brother of the former premier Shehbaz Sharif said victory was "certain".
"Despite all the odds PML-N is winning the July 25 polls," he was quoted as saying by Pakistani media.
LAHORE: Three bags full of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) were found on Tuesday next to a garbage dump in Shafiqabad locality of the city, Geo News reported.
According to police, three bags full of CNICs were discovered by trash pickers in the early hours of the day.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered the cards belonged to the residents of the area, according to sources.
The area falls under the NA-125 constituency of Lahore from where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Yasmin Rashid is contesting the election against Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz’s Waheed Alam.
Speaking to Geo News, Rashid said they have sent their lawyers to the Shafiqabad police station to inquire about the cards that have been discovered, claiming this may constitute as pre-poll rigging.
The police have taken the bags into custody and have launched an inquiry into the incident.
Later in the day, a two-member NADRA team reached the Shafiqabad police station and launched an inquiry into the incident.
Speaking to the media, SHO Mudassir Rafiq Butt said there were 1,000 cards in the three bags with the majority of them bearing addresses of various areas in Punjab.
Five arrested with fake ballot papers in Umerkot
Earlier today, the police seized a stack of fake ballot papers and arrested five suspects in connection with the fraud in Umerkot, Sindh.
The fake ballot papers were found hidden in a jeep near Pakistan Chowk in the town of Umerkot, and were to be delivered to the PS-52 constituency, police sources said.
On Monday, a presiding officer assigned for election duty at Karachi’s PS-93 constituency was arrested for sending another person as his substitute, ahead of the nationwide polls on July 25.
There are few who may not know the political slogan for each party for the 2018 elections. But do know where they stand on an issue that affects every Pakistani on the most basic level: healthcare.
Though Pakistan’s health budget marked an encouraging 80 per cent increase in 2017-18 to Rs54 billion from 2016-17’s Rs30 billion, it is still a mere one per cent of the country’s GDP.
Source: Pakistan Economic Surbey 2017-18
Successive governments have failed to prioritise healthcare and this is obvious by taking a look at the country’s health indicators.
Polio still continues to remain one of the biggest health concerns. Infant mortality rate is higher and life expectancy for women lower in Pakistan, as compared to the region. Lack of health facilities in rural regions, coupled with a high patient to doctor ratio in urban regions, only aggravate the health problems in the country. Brain drain is another factor adding to the pressures on this sector.
The three major political parties, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples’ Party, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have all come up with detailed proposals for the improvement of health sector in Pakistan, but they have not included any proposals on how they plan to tackle the problems of refusal to vaccinations, difficulties on accessibility in remote areas, or the affordability issues prevalent in the country.
Here is what they did propose:
PML-N:
They plan to eradicate polio, protect against preventable diseases, and increase the number of skilled birth attendants, expand immunisation coverage, and also implement a nutrition strategy focused on first 1,000 days interventions to reduce stunting and malnutrition.
PML-N’s manifesto also mentions the plans to expand PM’s National Health Program to “100% districts.” Scaling up for Punjab’s rural ambulances system for pregnant women is also on the cards as is the building and up-gradation of hospitals to bring the ‘bed-population’ ratio comparable to regional benchmarks.
Upgrading the Disease Surveillance System and set standards grounded in clinical protocols is also on their agenda. They also stated plans in their manifesto to conduct a National Health Survey every three years.
On the expenditure front, PMLN’s manifesto said that they will ensure an annual 20 per cent increase in public health expenditure, making it two per cent of the GDP by 2023. They also plan to control population growth rate down to 1.6 per cent in 2023, from the current level of 2.4 per cent.
PTI:
This manifesto states plans for up-scaling of Sehat Insaf Card Program with focus on the underprivileged. The party also plans to ensure that the citizens have coverage for a defined package of services insured through policy interventions such as public insurance for the poor, mandatory employee insurance among others.
Doubling the size of Lady Health Worker (LHW) programme as well as efforts to increase vaccination coverage; especially in Sindh and Balochistan, is also on PTI’s written agenda.
Establishing training institutes nationwide for nurses and paramedical staff, investments in a referral system at BHU (basic health unit) level, and ensuring availability of diagnostic facilities, preventive and curative treatment for communicable diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and HIV, are also area’s PTI promises to focus on in through their manifesto.
PPP:
The People’s Party has come up with a three-part strategy to deal with Pakistan’s healthcare issues. In its manifesto, PPP says it will expand services, link family health services to a unified individual-centred system, and join in the Mother and Child Support Program – ELAJ.
PPP plans to strengthen the provincial health commission with a semi-autonomous status, allow for health data management at union council and district levels, train district health officers in health services delivery and management, and ensure paperless administration and telehealth systems.
PPP’s linking-up healthcare plans will require the recruitment of an additional 25,000 doctors who will each manage an average caseload of around 1,000 households, according to the manifesto. This would mean that an average of 13 to 14 doctors would be employed per day. It makes up an average of 13-14 doctors employed per day.
The manifesto also says that Health Card will entitle individuals to free-of-cost or subsidised healthcare at public sector facilities. The Family Health Card may be linked with an upgraded BISP database to target concessions to the most under-privileged people, and for implementing a scale of payments.
The proposed points for Mother and Child support programme include maternal health, child nutrition, and reproductive health/family planning counselling and early childhood development among other things. The manifesto also mentions that this programme will provide cash incentives to mothers (and families) to make pro-health, pro-nutrition, pro- learning, and pro-gender equality choices from the time of conception till a child reaches school-going age (5 years).
What experts say?
Asif Aslam Farukkhi, who teaches healthcare at Habib University refused to comment on the political side of the manifestos but says, “Because I am a healthcare professional, I am keenly looking at the proposals by several political parties, and many of the loud claims being made are a continuation of policies already in practice, aiming for objectives that should have been achieved already”.
Farukkhi says polio eradication, reductions in maternal mortality, and improvement in child malnutrition are goals, “that should have been accomplished yesterday”.
Adding that irrespective of the political regime, Pakistan has fallen behind these on achieving these goals and some issues now warrant an emergency response such as provision of toilets, availability of clean drinking water, and measures that deal with child malnutrition.
JPMC’s Dr Seemin Jamali agrees, “Health should be declared as an emergency, and merit should be the only priority. Where there is a will, there is a way. All that is needed is the right people in the right places”. She said that if governance is not good and policy making is not proper, then nothing can be achieved, irrespective of the proposed plans. She added that the health sector needs to be “A-politicised”.
Speaking with Geo.tv, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Trainee Dr Rubab, who was posted in Ghotki and is now working in Punjab, says that a single doctor is deployed to handle the polio eradication campaign for the entire district. “There are so many tehsils and so many smaller areas in a district and it is very difficult for a single doctor to manage that well”.
She added that free healthcare is already being provided to patients almost all around the country, but that is at a very basic level. “The advanced medicines are not available free of cost and it is also not very practical to assume that it can be possible to provide elaborate healthcare free”.
However, her biggest concern remained sanitation. “In most cases (unsanitary conditions in) healthcare facilities themselves are responsible for spreading infections.”
Speaking on the infection spread from health organisations Jamali adds, “Except a few big hospitals there is no waste management system anywhere. “It all comes back to good governance and good governance is not only a matter for the governments but also for individual hospitals.”
According to Dr Jamali all political parties have come up with great manifestos, but previous governments are still trying to implement the proposed policies and objectives but it has not been possible so far. She believes that the competition is not about who brings the best suggestions but who actually implements them.
