By Farooq Sulehria
LAHORE, Pakistan — Local body elections took place in Punjab province on May 20. They were one of the bloodiest elections in the history of Pakistan, with 40 people killed and hundreds injured during riots around Punjab.
The ruling Muslim League used state resources, bribes, favouritism, corruption, rigging and repression to ensure it won the elections. There was a further decline in the Pakistan People's Party's vote.
The socialist Labour Party of Pakistan stood in one seat in Lahore and one in the Sheikhupura District, next to Lahore.
In the Sheikhupura District, Labour's Nazli Javed was the only female candidate. She fought courageously against the feudals and gangsters. She did not win the seat, but the campaign means that the whole district now knows about the party, its program and its courage to fight for working-class people.
In the working-class area of Lahore, the party's Muhammad Anwer, aged 26, came second with 478 votes (24%), defeating the People's Party and four other candidates. In two of the three polling stations, Anwer scored 41% of the vote.
Everyone knows that Anwer actually won the democratic fight but lost due to the Muslim League's massive bribery.
In 1997, Farooq Tariq, the general secretary of Labour Party, contested the National Assembly elections and won only 50 votes. The latest result is a huge increase in just one year.
A corner meeting with Anwer and Tariq as speakers during the campaign attracted 600 people. It showed who is in command in the area.
After the meeting, the Muslim League candidate brought bags full of money — $8000 — and distributed it among the workers. There were some who said, "Take the money because these people will never come back after the elections. Get some money from these bastards and give them your vote, which is no use to us." The Labour Party had to launch a campaign to tell people, "don't sell yourself".
Labour candidates were the only left candidates in Lahore. Scores of young people have applied to join the party, and most of the workers in the area give it active support. For such a new party, this is a tremendous result.