Open Letter: 'Value Voting' in Future Elections

“In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”


Open Letter
To, Honorable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim
Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Subject: Value Voting’ in Future Elections

Respected Sir,

Asalamo Alykum.

You must have heard of Allama Iqbal’s famous poetic verse about democracy,

Jamhooriyat ek tarz-e-hukoomat hae jis mae Bando’n ko gi’na kartae hae’n, tho’la nahi kartae

True Islamic governance is by Khilafah, where a leader is selected by a group of wise men based on his piety, wisdom, intelligence, strength, capability, foresightedness and such qualities. This leader is called the Khalifah. The entire Muslim nation then takes an oath of allegiance to him. The Khalifah governs the Muslim nation according to Islamic laws and values. Also, the Khalifah stays the Khalifah till he is performing well, be it one year or ten years and he leaves when he ceases to perform well, be it one year or ten years. Indeed, that is very logical.

Since the Khilafah is not existence for the time being, we have to make do with democracy temporarily. However, there is no reason why we cannot improvise it and bring it as close to the ideal system as possible. One of the pillars of the ideal system is selection based on knowledge and wisdom.

In the current democracy, the vote of an illiterate and a literate have equal value. Although it is possible that an illiterate person happens to be a wise person, yet education generally helps in boosting one’s thinking power and critical thinking. As is the scenario in Pakistan, poor and uneducated people are financially manipulated to cast ‘instructed’ votes, especially in the villages where the feudal lord plays god and the central government writ is very loose. Uneducated people are also brain-washed to vote by caste association. Sometimes people vote for the stupidest reasons such as ancestral association and good looks.

Finally, let it be noted here that in Islam, the first and foremost education compulsory for a Muslim is religious knowledge and the highest factor to be rated when selecting a person for a public-post is religious knowledge, practical practice and consciousness of accountability, called Taqwa. It might appear to someone that whether to pray or not to pray is a personal issue, but the physical rituals of Islam are in one dimension a test and measure of person’s sense of duty, which is extremely important for a public-post.

Hence, I would request the ECP to introduce ‘value voting’, such that an uneducated person may have a vote-value of one, an educated person’s vote may have a vote-value of two and a person having both worldly education and religious education may have a vote-value of three.

If the champions of democracy have a problem with such an alteration with democracy, ask them why selected members of the UN have the veto power? Ask them why they stay mute upon the monarchy of oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia? Ask them why the election victory of religious-political parties was not accepted in Al-Jazair and Palestine? Is democracy supposed to deliver results or are results composed and then backed by democracy?

May Allah Almighty give you the strength to apply your position of power well such that the reforms you make may become Sadqa-e-Jariya for you in the Hereafter. Wsalam.

From,
[Name/Initials], [Location],
[Date].

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To,
Honorable Justice Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim
Election Commission of Pakistan Secretariat,
Constitution Avenue,
Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

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