Sunday 18 September 2011

Importance of Voting in Pakistan

In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as “the government of the people, by the people and for the people.” It means that we are not supposed to serve our government but it the government that is here to serve us and we as the citizens of our nation have the right to decide who will represent us and how we want to be represented. It means that we have one of the greatest rights any free people can have i.e. the right to vote. 
In the history of Pakistan many people have fought for and have sacrificed everything for the achievement of the right of voting. We owe the privilege to live in a democratic society-a society in which we can elect our leaders of our choice to Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and many other great leaders of past.  But today in Pakistan we have forgotten that how much value this right of voting has and we don’t even care to vote because we have this misconception that probably our vote does not count and our single vote will not really count. This is wrong! If everyone starts thinking that their single vote does not matters then ultimately our democracy would end because democracy needs the participation of the people, without that there is no democracy. When one does not cast a vote it does not mean that that voter still does not influence the election as much as any other voter.
Today we are being governed by leaders that hold fake degrees and have no sense how to run a country. They have no interest in public affairs and problems, they are just here to fill their bank accounts and gather as much money as they can. The reason we have such leaders is only because we have neglected our duties and responsibilities as a citizen to such an extent that we don’t even bother to get out of our homes to vote.
Many people choose not to vote because they feel like what goes on in the government doesn’t affect them. The truth is, it does…in many ways. Elected officials make all sorts of decisions that can directly affect your life. The President and Congress we elect will affect us, our lifestyle and our entire community because these are the people who bring about or remove load shedding , lower or increase taxes, maintain the currency value, make and destroy the economies and so forth.
Thus if we really love our country, believe in free government, want to add our voice and if we actually want to save it and have those leaders who work for the betterment of the nation and not for their own personal benefits we need to step up and not only vote ourself but also motivate others to vote.

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