Democracy means the participation of the people in the formation of their government and the right to vote is directly linked to this process. Universal suffrage is now the legal norm in the civilized and free world.
We’re talking about the 28th Amendment and raising the voting age from 18 to 25. No official position has been taken on this, but given the history of recent amendments, such an amendment could be adopted overnight. The proposed amendment, if passed, will exclude millions of young voters from the decision-making process, from the right to form a government, and deprive them of their constitutional and fundamental rights.
This experiment, if undertaken, will certainly be a retrograde step that will add to the long and unending list of trials and errors with the political system since the inception of Pakistan, essentially reflecting a distrust of the wisdom of the people and their choices. This would also be in direct conflict with the idea of Pakistan, based on the will and wisdom of the Muslims of the subcontinent who decided to have a free homeland where they would enjoy political and religious freedoms.
The constitution of Pakistan, when it was framed and adopted in 1973, fixed the voting age at 21 under Article 51. There is no discussion of this topic in the long debates on the constitution. Voting age, census and distribution of seats in the National Assembly which elects the Prime Minister under Article 91 are interconnected provisions which cannot be considered in isolation.
In 2002, General Tanveer Naqvi’s National Reconstruction Bureau advised policy makers to take three crucial and consequential steps to change the political scenario. All of these things happened at the same time. They were: one, liberate and develop electronic and social media. It was believed that a free media would help counter the two main political parties, the PPP and the PML-N, by educating the population through discussions, debates and political narratives. These political parties were plunged into obscurity following the military takeover in 1999. They were deprived, among other things, of their party name and electoral symbols. The PML-N also faced dispossession of its offices and another political party was created from its defectors, driving its leaders into exile, and the late Benazir Bhutto went into exile for the second time.
Second, lower the voting age from 21 to 18. It was believed that the move would dismantle the vote bank politics of these parties, which served an older segment of the population. It was also thought that young, informed voters would outnumber older, aging voters. Thus, thanks to the legal framework decree of 2002 (LFO), the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 years by modifying article 51 of the constitution.
Third, the bachelor’s degree was introduced into the electoral laws as a qualification for candidates for national and provincial assemblies, the Senate and for local government officials, Nazis and Nazi naibs. This led to several mainstream politicians obtaining fake degrees from non-existent educational institutions and religious seminaries. Interestingly, a few years later, another Naqvi petitioned the Supreme Court and obtained the disqualification of several members of the national and provincial assemblies and Nazis, although the requirement of a bachelor’s degree had already been declared void by the Supreme Court.
Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), to which Pakistan is a signatory, provides that everyone has the right to participate in the government formation process by voting on the basis of adult franchise. In 1971, the legal voting age was set at 18 in the United States. In Canada, the legal voting age has also been 18 since 1971. The same is true in Australia, India and Bangladesh. The voting age of 18 is now almost a universal standard and many countries in Europe and South America are even considering lowering it further to 16. The story of the voting age is, in fact, the story of political consciousness, human dignity and freedom.
From a constitutional perspective, the voting age is not merely a constitutional and legal right, as held by the Indian Supreme Court and also cited in Pakistani cases, which can be changed by amending Article 51 of the constitution and a section of the electoral laws. Voting age and the right to vote are directly linked to human dignity (article 14) and the right to freedom of political association (article 17). It is also linked to the socio-ethnic policies of the state and the political principles set out in the constitution. The distribution of seats in the assemblies and the process of delimitation of elections are linked to this. In a federation where several factors are fundamental to cohesion and proper functioning, the voting age is one of those factors that must be carefully examined before any change.
Dr Sonja C Grover, Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Human Rights, has published a monograph titled “Youth Human Rights and the Politics of the Voting Age”. It is a comparative study of the laws and constitutions of different countries and examines in depth the factors involved in determining the voting age.
According to Islamic law, the age of legal responsibility (mukallaf) is fifteen lunar years. If a person becomes legally responsible for his actions and deeds, as well as his religious obligations, there is no reason why he should not enjoy the corresponding right to participate in the government formation process. Islamic provisions are among the salient elements of the constitution.
The old adage says that wisdom has nothing to do with age. The state collects taxes from minors and taxes can only be collected by law. So, logically, everyone must have the right to elect members of the national and provincial assemblies, taxation being imposed without representation.
The government and its political circles are well aware that young people face difficulties and many social and economic problems. Unemployment is widespread. There are not enough places in colleges and universities. Parents are under enormous stress. The socio-economic gap between the privileged classes and ordinary people has widened to such a level that unrest, frustration and other psychological pressures cause considerable stress and tension.
The ruling political parties and their leaders claim to represent the people of Pakistan. In these circumstances, raising the voting age simply to cling to power through undemocratic means may prove counterproductive.
The writer is a Supreme Court lawyer and former Additional Attorney General of Pakistan. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies of PK Press Club.tv.
Originally published in The News
