Influential figures are leveraging their platforms to encourage the nation
It’s officially election day! As Pakistanis all over the country gear up to choose the leadership that will dictate the path on which the nation will traverse for the next few years, many celebrities are either urging citizens to vote or are showing that they have participated in the voting process.
Having either cast their votes or heading towards doing the same, these influential figures are leveraging their platforms to encourage an otherwise crestfallen nation to step up, get out, and play a key role in determining their future.
Rallying troops
“Go and vote for a better Pakistan. Vote for Pakistan. Pakistan Zindabad!” said actor Humayun Saeed on his X account. In a similar vein, Saba Qamar took to X to state, “Pakistan! Remember to go out and vote tomorrow. Pakistan Zindabad.” Singer Asim Azhar took to X to share, “Faisla jo bhi ho, apni zimidari puri karni hai. Baaki Allah badshah (Whatever the outcome, we must fulfil our duty. The rest is up to God).”
Mahira Khan also took to the site formerly known as Twitter to pen, “No matter what you feel or who you want to vote for…It’s important that we exercise our fundamental right to vote. See you all at the polls. InshAllah. Praying for peace and safety for all. Ameen.” Musician Salman Ahmed shared, “No need to fight, just vote and change your destiny, forever!” Sarwat Gilani shared a picture on Instagram with the caption, “See you at the polling station. Use your right to vote.”
Cricketing legend Wasim Akram took to the microblogging site to share, “February 8 is an important day for the people of Pakistan. Somewhere inside us, we all want to change our fate, our system and our way of life and when we vote we use that power to choose the best. It’s our right, so go out and use that power of vote. Pakistan Zindabad.” Shaheen Afridi took to his X account to say, “Voting is not only our right, it is our power! Go and vote tomorrow for a better Pakistan, InshAllah. Pakistan Zindabad.”
Duty fulfilled
Actor Osman Khalid Butt took to X to share an image of him having voted. “What a beautiful day to go out and vote,” he said, flaunting the mark on his thumb that denoted that the actor cast his vote.
After casting his vote, the actor also helped others by sharing a vital message on X. “Mobile phones and digital watches are not allowed inside the polling station. If you didn’t print your information (from messaging 8300), just memorise your block code and serial number or write it down before entering. It’ll help make the process easier,” he shared. Additonally, Actor Adnan Malik took to his IG Story to share that he voted as well. However, he also had some critiques about the entire process.
Taking to X, he wrote, “I feel as if the voting process in this country needs to be revamped. It’s deliberately confusing, easy to manipulate, archaic and ultimately disheartening.” He added, “The service design approach isn’t to make the experience smooth for the end user (voter) but seems to be kept deliberately chaotic so the system can be easily manipulated. Considering that my taxes fund the elections, I want a more reliable way to vote. Electoral reforms needed!”
Taking to his Instagram Stories, Adnan also said, “I’ve just voted and returned. There wasn’t a lot of rush, which isn’t great. An important thing is that the block code you get from 8300 will tell you about your polling booth. They should have signs. Like you have an I.D card number, you’ll have a similar number.”
Cautioning people to be careful with their vote, he continued, “My reflection is that we’re living in 2024 utilising such an archaic way of voting. There are so many people, so much paper, so many stamps, so much bureaucracy.” He added, “The polling agents said that they hadn’t slept in two days. The people who were manning the desks. And it’s so old school, like a government bureaucracy office. They have these big papers which they tear with rules, and have a tiny stamp. It just feels really dated.”
He furthered on, “For me, this is not consumer-friendly from an election point-of-view. Elections, if they were held in a fair and free way, should be easy. People should be able to vote without making it so bureaucratic, so difficult, so many points where things can go wrong.”
Actor Danish Taimoor took to his Instagram to share a picture of the Pakistani flag. “Pakistan Zindabad!” he wrote in the accompanying caption. While his wife and acclaimed star Ayeza Khan shared a similar post earlier, the star also took to her Instagram to share that she has cast her vote. Actor Hamza Ali Abbasi also shared that he cast his vote, posting an IG story confirming the same.
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