Some minor thoughts as the dust settles
A little over 24 hours ago, before the early returns were in, enough to give the first contours of the outcome, when massive vote fraud was till a very real possibility, vote fraud sufficient to keep the MMA and PML-Q parties in power, the writer at Dawn's blog wrote this:
Can elections ever be construed as free and fair if a certain segment of society is prevented from partaking in them? In case you are wondering which segment I'm referring to - the correct answer is women.
Of course less the 40% of the electorate actually did vote, but the largest hidden vote suppression is the suppression that doesn't require that names be dropped from the rolls, or that voters be turned away from the polling station, its the suppression that the voter is less than equal, that nothing is on the ballot that actually matters, and that the personification of liberation by the ballot has been shot and bombed in plain sight.
Only 40% of the electorate in Pakistan is literate, and that's males and females, averaged. Parties use symbols. One uses a lantern, to symbolize the light that could come to Pakistan.
Others writing about the election:
Juan Cole published a medium sized piece this morning with analysis and copy also from Dawn.
The Cursor has two paras of links, none to South or West Asian source. I don't read the cursor, but others do.
William Harting has a piece at one of Josh Micah Marshall's sites, unfortunately, its again sources far from Asia and mostly cover for Joe Biden's most recent offer to increase the US contribution to Pakistan without specific condition, specific like engage in disarmament with India or increase the funding of girl's eduction.
That's about it in the greater leftish blogodome for PK coverage.
