Pakistan: Marxist wins election in Waziristan! But reactionary forces are organizing fraud

Comrade Ali Wazir has won the election in South Waziristan - in the heart of Taliban territory! The news was published yesterday (Sunday) in one of the main television channels in Pakistan, GeoTV. Yet, today (Monday) it was announced that the election in South Waziristan would have to be held again on May 18^th. 

The victory in the election was an amazing feat by any standards. South Waziristan is a war zone, an area that is occupied de facto by the Pakistan army, where roving bands of heavily armed Taliban supporters are active, and where murderous drone strikes are a regular occurrence.

Waziristan is part of the so-called tribal area, where for generations the writ of the central government did not extend. In this harsh, unforgiving country, it is a hard struggle just to survive, but to carry on an election campaign and win on a Marxist programme, is nothing short of a miracle!

The corrupt gangsters who control the PPP made sure that no member of the IMT would be given a party ticket anywhere in Pakistan. Such was their fear and hatred of the Marxists that they preferred to lose seats in areas like Karachi and Swat, rather than allow well-known Party figures who were members of the IMT to stand. But in the case of Waziristan, things were different. Comrade Ali Wazir of the IMT stood on an independent left ticket – and won.

Ali Wazir, a tough and experienced revolutionary and dedicated Marxist, is well known to the masses. He is a very courageous man who has fearlessly faced the opposition of the religious fundamentalists on the one hand and the Pakistan army on the other. His uncle and elder brother have already fallen victims to assassinations by the dark forces of reaction. But no danger could deter him from his revolutionary duty.

Ali fought his campaign on a clear socialist programme: against imperialism and terrorism, for the old revolutionary slogan: roti, kapra aur maqan: “Bread, Clothes and Shelter”, for schools and health for all. This message found a response in the mids of the people of this war-torn land.

Ali Wazir won the election against all the odds. His victory was also announced in today’s edition ofThe News, one of the main English language daily papers in Pakistan.

Despite this, it is not at all certain that he will finally take his seat in the National Assembly in Islamabad. In the 2008 elections, held after the murder of Benazir Bhutto, Ali Wazir also won, but was cheated out of his seat by the intervention of the state forces.

First the result was not announced for a long time. When it was finally made public, the seat was handed to a reactionary mullah. The hand of the sinister ISI (Pakistan military intelligence), which constitutes a a state within the state, was clearly behind this manoeuvre.

Ali Wazir's election posterNow we may be facing the same kind of dirty intrigue. The ISI cannot stomach the thought of a Marxist winning this seat. They are allied to the forces of Islamic reaction and terrorism. Indeed, the fundamentalists and terrorists could not exist without the backing of the state and the ISI.

The result giving the victory to Ali Wazir was made public after 86 percent of the votes had already been counted. Yet the “official” result had yet to be declared. Today (Monday) it was announced that the election in South Waziristan would have to be held again on May 18^th. How convenient! If some reactionary Mullah had won, there would be no problem. But when a Marxist wins an election, it must be held again!

This is obviously an “action replay” of the 2008 electoral swindle. It is the ugly reality behind the smiling facade of “Pakistan’s democracy”. This is democracy only for the rich exploiters, it is freedom to rob, cheat and plunder. The outgoing PPP government was particularly notorious for its corruption. The ingoing government of the Muslim League will be no better, and probably even worse.

The so-called National Assembly is merely a thieves’ kitchen, where any crook, thief, swindler, drug dealer or Taliban is welcomed with open arms to join in the orgy of corruption and plunder. But against the representatives of the workers, peasants and poor people, the doors of the thieves’ kitchen are securely locked.