How Social Media Can Shape Elections 2024

Fakhar-e-Alam

Peshawar: In democratic systems, the foundation of a robust democracy lies in the conduct of elections that are both free and transparent. This ensures that the government elected through the electoral process truly represents the will of the people—of, by, and for the people.

Serving as a barometer of a nation’s democratic health, a free, fair, and transparent election bestows legitimacy upon the elected government, authorizing it to make decisions in the national interest and for the well-being of the populace over the next five years.

“Election gives the authority in the hands of the public and provides them the freedom to elect the government of their choice, which will work for their growth and development besides resolution of the country’s problems,” said Dr AH Hilali, former Chairman, Political Science Department, University of Peshawar.

In the 2013 and 2018 general elections, Dr Hilali said, social media played an impactful role in deciding the fate of political parties. “The PTI’s social media strategies and social mobilizers compared to other political parties had helped in establishing government for a second consecutive term in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” the academia explained. According to a report from Digital Pakistan 2023, the number of internet users in Pakistan swelled to a record 87.35 million in January last year, showing a 4.4 million increase between 2022 and 2023.

The number of social media users also increased to a record 71.70 million in 2023, including 37.30 million users of Facebook, 71.70 million users of YouTube, 12.95 million on Instagram, and 16.51 million on TikTok.

Similarly, about 11.95 million people are using Facebook Messenger. 9.30 million Linkedin, 25.70 million snapchat, and 4.65 million users of X (Twitter) in the wake of an increase in mobile connections to 191.8 million in January 2023 in Pakistan.

Professor Hilali said the process of filing and scrutinizing nomination papers for the 2024 general elections was completed, and social media’s role would be crucial in the 2024 election. He said all political parties, including PML-N, PPP, PTI, ANP, JUIF, MQM, IPP, and PTIP, have shown their presence on every major social media platform for political gains.

He said all political parties and leaders have opened official pages with blue-ticks on Facebook and Facebook groups for communication with party members as well as with their fans and voters. Besides other social media platforms, he said all political leaders, including Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhuto, Khalid Maqbool Saddiqui, Pervez Khattak, and Jahangir Tareen, opened official X (former Twitter) handles with blue ticks for authentication, along with official pages on Instagram by the young political leaders.

“For me, manifestos of political parties are important, and every person can see the programs of these parties by visiting their social media websites and pages with a single mobile click,” said Ehtisham Qaiser, a lecturer of Urdu literature.

Dr Hilali said the success of political parties in the 2024 general election would largely depend on the political behavior and psychological-economic factors, past service records and manifestos of political parties, rather than the launching of personal attacks, blame games, characters assassination of political leadership, and dragging state institutions into politics in public meetings or issuing statements on social media platforms.According to the ECP, approximately 127 million registered voters would exercise their right of franchise in the 2024 general election, out of whom about 72.31 million (56.9 percent) were registered in Punjab, 26.65 million in Sindh (21 percent), 21.69 million voters (17.1 percent) in KP, and 5.28 million (4.2 percent) in Balochistan.

There were around 57.1 million youth voters aged between 18 and 35, making up 45 percent of those who were eligible to vote. The number of voters aged 36 to 45 comes to 27.79 million, i.e., 21.88 percent, and the two age groups, if seen together, comprise 84.81 million voters, or two-thirds of the total 127 million voters in Pakistan.

Dr Hilali said the young voters, especially female voters representing nearly 50 percent of the population, would be a key factor in deciding the fate of political parties in the February 8 election.

He said about 22 million children aged 5–16 were still out-of-school (OSC) in the country, including 4.7 million in KP, due to poverty and socioeconomic imbalances, and bringing them under the education net would be a big challenge for the government.

Dr Imran Khattak, a former member of the national assembly and PTIP leader who was contesting the election from his home district of Nowshera, said that bringing down the prices of edibles, promoting industrialization for job creation for youth, and improving the economy would be his priority areas if voted to power.

Muhammad Ali Shah Bacha, a former state minister, said that the PPP believed in the power of the masses rather than social media and would construct three million houses for the poorest of the poor and homeless after coming into power. He said that labor cards would be launched and stipends under BISP programs would be enhanced to bring poor families out of poverty.

Ikhtair Wali Khan, PML-N KP Spokesman and former MPA, said that his party, if voted to power, would take the country out of economic challenges and promote agriculture and industrialization for the creation of job opportunities and achieving autonomy in food.

The experts said that in the wake of chilly weather and security challenges, the importance of social media was further increased in the 2024 elections, and all the political parties have already started projecting their programs through different social media websites for quick dissemination of information besides grabbing maximum seats in national and provincial assemblies.

The feature report was released by APP.

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