Investor Presentaiton
Electoral Trends and Political Dynamics of Punjab Province
significance of caste, biradari, and religious sect factor as the only factors in electoral
trends in Pakistan and Punjab in particular.
Table 4
Do you think that caste, biradari and religious sect is an important source of
voting behavior in Punjab?
Cumulative
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Percent
Agree
Disagree
49
56.3
56.3
56.3
31
35.6
35.6
92.0
Valid
Don't Know
8.0
8.0
100.0
Total
87
100.0
100.0
Issue Based Local Politics
The dynamics of local politics are different from national politics in terms of
the nature of socio-political and economic issues. Constituency based local issues
incorporates minor as well as major issues within the societal cadre ranging from
personal to town level matters. People seek support and help from the candidate for
the resolution of their problems. Consequently, this aspect of local dynamics becomes
a decisive factor in the voting behavior of people. Local issues in Punjab and
elsewhere mostly include infrastructural and development-related issues, non-
availability of basic services including health, education, social services, and other
matters related to government offices. In addition, politicians are also part of informal
mechanisms of conflict resolution, management, and settlement in local matters. In
this perspective, the majority of the 73% percent population endorsed this narrative
that people give more importance to constituency-based issues as compared to
national issues in casting their vote mainly due to the dominant role of candidates in
their domestic matters. This trend further provides dominance and stronghold to the
candidates on the voters in their areas. This local relationship with the voter and the
candidate is one of the most important and decisive factors in Punjab politics.
Table 5
Do you think that people give more importance to their local constituency issues
in comparison national issues while casting the vote?
Cumulative
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Percent
Valid
Agree
Disagree
64
73.6
73.6
73.6
20
23.0
23.0
96.6
Don't Know
3
3.4
3.4
100.0
Total
87
100.0
100.0
Performance of Previous Government
The parameter of performance of candidates in their area and the overall
performance of the government is an important scale of measuring the tendency of
voters towards the candidate and the political party. Generically, the performance of
the government shapes up an environment for the next elections in terms of people's
support and the level of satisfaction that they have with the government. Evaluations
on the overall economic and security situation are the most common factors that are
observed by the voters. Unlike, any macroeconomic and strategic planning, people
are more concerned about issues related to inflation, employment, and
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