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Pakistan is a nation desperately in need of heroes. Our politicians dissimulate, our cricketers disappoint, and our celebrities self-destruct. It is reassuring, then, when a hero – or in this case, heroine – emerges from unlikely circumstances, giving this jaded polity something to believe in.

Largely neglected by the mainstream media, Mai Jori Jamali has been the darling of the Pakistani blogosphere this past week. She is the illiterate wife of a farmer and a mother of nine who has filed papers to contest the by-election for a vacant Balochistan Assembly seat, PB-25 Jaffarabad.

In the election, Mai Jori is up against Mir Attaullah Bulledi – an independent candidate with the support of the PMLN as well as prominent sardars and a former federal minister – and Nasir Khan Jamali, the PPP candidate (Baloch nationalist parties have boycotted the polls). Unlike her competitors, Mai Jori boasts no land-holdings, financial resources, political patrons or influence. Her campaign is supported by the Awami Party, and has been funded by contributions from her constituency. At a series of meetings with civil society activists and members of her community at the end of January, Mai Jori raised a little over Rs. 11,000, which she used to travel to the district headquarters, process her nomination papers, and settle election fees.

Chances are, Mai Jori will lose the election. But Pakistani politicians can learn a lesson or two from her campaign, which focuses on empowering Baloch women. Rather than play up ethno-nationalist sentiment or engage in the power plays of established political parties, she has articulated a platform that forms the basis of her campaign. 

Mai Jori hails from Ghulam Muhammad Jamali village, which is in the same district as Baba Kot, a remote village that gained notoriety in 2008 when three women and two teenaged girls were buried alive after being shot in a series of honour killings. At the time, Senator Sardar Israrullah Zehri had defended the barbaric incident by describing it as a “tribal custom.” The Asian Human Rights Commission also reported that the provincial government had tried to keep the killings out of the media. Given this background, and the continuing prevalence of violence against women, Mai Jori’s candidacy is being seen as a stand against ‘customs’ that permit the routine abuse of women’s rights in the area.

By framing her campaign as a rejection of violence against women, Mai Jori has earned the attention of blogs such as Teeth Maestro and All Things Pakistan, and, far more importantly, voters in her constituency. This week, Mai Jori and her female supporters embarked on a Haqooq March (march for rights), which entails door-to-door campaigning through a number of villages. At each stop, she has reportedly been greeted by hundreds of peasant women eager to push back against the repression that defines their lives.

The grassroots appeal of Mai Jori’s campaign is the latest in a string of telltale signs that Pakistan is readying for issue-based politics. As voters become more informed owing to higher literacy levels and pervasive media coverage, they are more invested in campaigns that seek to address specific issues and injustices. No doubt, ethno-nationalist, dynastic, faith, and image-based politics (which deploy media strategies for political gain) continue to dominate the Pakistani political landscape. But the following examples suggest that a new trend is imminent.

Last year, right-wing parties, including the PMLN, the Jamaat-i-Islami, and the Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), established themselves as a decisive force in the political arena by rallying around the issue of the restoration of an independent judiciary. Their ongoing popular appeal and ability at the time to join hands with unlikely partners – such as the legal community and journalists – stemmed from their focus on one concrete problem, the plight of the judiciary.

Since then, the right-wing parties have enhanced their political cache by uniting people with different political viewpoints (many of whom have open reservations about the PMLN or PTI’s ideological underpinnings) on the basis of one issue after another, from the NRO to Blackwater. In this political strategy, the parties are no doubt taking a page from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, which won elections in 2002 by riding the wave of anti-Americanism that resulted from US-led attacks in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Interestingly, to counter widespread anti-American sentiment, the Obama administration too is focusing on specific issues, rather than lofty rhetoric about freedom, democracy, and historic alliances. Since Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to Pakistan in October last year, US officials have been emphasising Washington’s support for our energy, rather than security, needs. Ms Clinton announced a “signature” US $ 125 million grant to improve energy output and efficiency, and in January, the Ministry of Water and Power was allocated US $16.5 million to boost the capacity of the hydroelectric plant.

Separately, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has embraced issue-based politics in recent months to broaden its appeal from urban Sindh to the middle-classes in Punjab and even the Northern Areas. The party has taken an unambiguous stand on issues that affect the everyday lives of Pakistanis – local government and creeping Talibanization – and has enjoyed national prominence as a result.

The true power of issue-based politics could become apparent as political parties seek constituencies in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). This week, Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani reiterated that the Political Parties Act would be extended to Fata as soon as military operations in the area conclude. There will be little currency in the tribal belt for the ethno-nationalist and dynastic politics that define Pakistan’s major political parties. To function in a region with a unique tribal and linguistic culture, political parties will have to focus on the issues that matter at the grassroots – economic development, education, health, and infrastructure. If such a strategy succeeds in Fata, Pakistan may just see a shift towards issue-based politics across Pakistan. Perhaps then a woman like Mai Jori could win an election on the strength of her message.