ISLAMABAD: At least eight million overseas Pakistanis from twenty districts of the country are living abroad and after the legislation passed by the Parliament and promulgated by President of Pakistan, many of them will be given the right to vote in any elections held in their home constituencies in Pakistan.
Eight million is 3.6 per cent of the total 220 million population of Pakistan. Though it is not a very large number, but it could prove a decisive tiebreaker during elections and change the results of many constituencies.
The number becomes more interesting when you add into the calculation the fact that a large number of overseas Pakistanis hail from specific of districts of the country.
This fact may cause anxiety to some political parties and shenanigans to others.
According to figures available at least 700,000 of the overseas voters come in the14 National Assembly constituencies in Lahore. On average each constituency has about 50,000 overseas voters which is a good figure to change the election results.
Lahore is a stronghold of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and party has won 10 out of the total 14 constituencies of the Lahore in much controversial general elections of 2018.
Eight of the 14 National Assembly constituencies were decided by a margin of less than 50,000 votes. Overseas voters, thus, can change the election outcome in Lahore in the next general elections. The pattern is repeated elsewhere.
At least 470,000 overseas voters come from five NA constituencies in Sialkot and 450,000 from seven constituencies in Rawalpindi.
In Karachi, four NA constituencies from the Central District have 346,960 overseas voters, and four constituencies in the East District have 221,312 overseas voters.
In Swat, at least 225,764 overseas Pakistanis will now be voting in three constituencies.
And the scales would certainly be tipped in Islamabad which has only two NA constituencies but over 200,000 voters living outside the country.
It is believed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has a strong following among overseas Pakistanis, but the majority of PTI supporters are non-voters. PTI workers outside the country seem more active enthusiast than those back home while other political parties especially Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is also gaining ground outside Pakistan particularly in the UK and Middle East.
A high election turnout outside the country will prove an interesting phenomenon as all political parties like PTI, PML-N, Pakistan People’s Party, Jamiat Ulema e Islam Fazl, Awami National Party etc, are also making efforts and gaining ground among overseas Pakistanis.
It is being thought by some PTI people that overseas vote will help the Imran Khan’s party to win next general elections but worst performance and many decisions of the incumbent government have hurt overseas Pakistan.
Let’s wait for the next general elections.
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