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Dubai: Pakistanis go to polls on Monday but the turnout is not expected to be high because voters are now reluctant to venture out to polling stations for fear of their lives.
The elections may mean different things to different people.
For Benazir's party, it might just be her "revenge through democracy"; for Nawaz Sharif a vindication of his stance; for the Chaudhrys a question of their survival. For judges it might bring in a possibility of their reinstatement, freedom for the media, social change and justice for the civil society and for President Pervez Musharraf options to prolong his tenure.
Extremism
And for ordinary people like me, it may be about an end to suicide bombings and extremism, better availability of water and electricity, flour and cooking gas and relief from the ever-increasing prices of food items.
The recent bomb explosions in different parts of the country may have already brought down the turnout for the polls by frightening public not to go out. The sense of fear for life and property now runs through the society.
Even the overseas Pakistani did not show much interest to go to Pakistan to cast vote for fear of their lives.
This factor can reflect on the poll results as the low turnout may lead to unexpected results. Parties like the Pakistan Peoples Party, which was also banking on larger number of people casting ballots for it after Benazir Bhutto's assassination, may not benefit much, because of the reluctance of people to venture into public places for fear of terrorist attacks.
Agitations
The blasts during political rallies have already served their purpose - to scare voters away from participating in the democratic process through what Musharraf called "mother of all elections".
Some fear that low turnout in today's poll may lead to agitation and protests in the country and the purpose of holding the elections for a transition to democracy may not be achieved.
Whatever the case may be, elections 2008 may be the most unpredictable polls ever held in Pakistan. What makes them difficult to predict are the countless imponderables.
Nobody really knows how much this country has changed in the last few years; or in just a few days after Bhutto's assassination. The elections are just about the battle for Punjab as trends - particularly in Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP - are easily discernable.
In Sindh, after the death of Bhutto, the PPP is seemingly sweeping rural areas and the MQM, at a minimum, seems to be retaining its strength in urban areas. The NWFP, say most surveys, shows the MMA climbing down sharply from its highest-ever tally of 28 seats in the last elections.
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