The Economist are right to emphasise in their 3rd September editorial leader response to the floods in Pakistan, what Pakistan needs to learn from Bangladesh in getting ready for the rains. Particularly in light of the more regular floods they suffer including this year’s Monsoon across the whole of the Indian sub-continent.
But we should not also forget the cyclone of 1970 also had an important bearing on the first free and fair General Election in Pakistan which was put back to December 1970 in light of the cyclone in East Pakistan. It was clearly a deciding factor in that General Election, as the lack of relief efforts given by the authorities was an important factor in the result and subsequent mandate for the liberation of Bangladesh. Which poses the question of how a future General Election in Pakistan could be influenced by the events of the floods in 2022, going by how other national calamities have influenced their elections before. So the question can be posed from this historical precedent, what influence will the handling of these floods have in Pakistani election particularly in Sind & Balochistan.