Siliconistan

by Muhammad Hanif

As the political debate in country heats up, parties are now gearing up to take lead on one another. One such move by Chief Minister Punjab and a prominent leader of PML(N) is launching of first SMS based service to connect citizens with the Chief Minister. Citizens who want to say anything to Chief Minister Punjab, be it suggestion or complaint, can now just send a text message followed by SS to 9900.

Talk to Shahbaz Sharif!

The SMS campaign is named as “Talk to Shahbaz Sharif”. Through this SMS based system, public can send a text message followed by SS to 9900 and this message will be forwarded to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Obviously, keeping spamming in mind, there must be some screening of these messages before being forwarded to the Chief Minister. Normally, public cannot easily reach top level government officials especially chief ministers and prime minister etc. This facility will definitely help general public to send their complaints and suggestions directly from their mobile phone. As Pakistan’s tele-density and mobile subscribers is very high, technically every Pakistani can use this facility very easily.

This SMS based system to connect public and a chief minister is first of its kind in Pakistan. Keeping political affiliations aside, this step is undoubtedly a positive one as it encourages Information Technology based systems in the country. We can expect that other chief ministers will also be adopting such a system soon.

SMS Charges

As a consumer right and from regulatory point of view, SMS charges should have been mentioned while advertising these SMS short codes (i.e. 9900). It is unknown at this stage that how much will be charged per SMS for this facility. For now, apparently, this facility is only being advertised on Internet and maybe in its initial phase. Hopefully, when this will be advertised in newspapers or TV, SMS charges will be publicized as well.

Technology & Politics in Pakistan

Till last general elections in Pakistan (held in 2008), there wasn’t much hype about social media usage for politics and bridging the gap between public and government. However, 2011 has seen fast paced growth of technology based and social media platforms based activities to foster public relations and gain political advantage. One such example is Imran Khan’s rally in Lahore. Young supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf used social media positively and made such a big jalsa (rally) possible. It was not just social media (or Internet) but Internet was a significant part of campaigning for the rally.

Other political parties that were undermining social media and technology based mediums for political campaigning then recognized the importance of technology and can now be seen either using or planning to use social media.

It can be predicted that Internet will be one of the most important mediums of political campaigning in next general elections to be held in 2013 as per standard schedule.

PML(N) and Shahbaz Sharif’s quick moves

It has been observed that PML(N) is taking giant steps and quick actions to counter Internet based negative propaganda against it and to spread awareness on development projects by its party’s government in Punjab province. Few days back Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif launched his official Facebook page and the PML(N)’s page has also seen improved activities. In the past 3-4 days, many positive news about party and leadership were published on these Facebook pages.