Level Playing Field

Free and fair election is the soul of democracy. Democracy thrives and gets consolidated when the elections are contested on a level playing field for it calls for equal opportunities and access for all political parties. If some parties enjoy sufficient resources and some others are denied such facilities during their poll campaign, this will surely impede the efforts to hold polls in a fair manner. A skewed playing field gives little chance for the small parties or those new entrants to win the polls. Experts view that unequal access to finance, institutional backing and mass media undermines the democratic competition more than the vote-rigging, violence and suppression of the masses. The voice for ensuring the level playing field for all candidates is getting louder as the country is set for the federal and provincial polls on November 20.