The 12th general elections in Pakistan, after a four-month delay, are scheduled to be held on February 8. However, foreign media outlets see what they believe a toned down election activities in the country.

Earlier this month South China Morning Post reported how several towns in Pakistan’s Hazara region “were largely devoid of political billboards and posters.”

Now, Al Jazeera believes the lacklustre response of voters might be attributed to the current political situation, economic uncertainty, and border instability, indicating that the elections have lost their charm.

Muhammed Iqrar, a 46-year-old shopkeeper in Rawalpindi, misses the buntings, banners, flags, music blaring from the speakers, and election campaigns from the candidates. He told Al Jazeera this when he was standing outside his shop.

The general elections in Pakistan were originally scheduled for November 2023, but the redrawing of constituencies halted the polls in the country. Before this, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had been ousted as the prime minister through a no-confidence motion.

Recently, Imran Khan’s PTI has been deprived of its iconic election symbol, the ‘cricket bat.’ It could be said that the absence of opposition has made the elections unattractive.

A PML-N supporter recalled previous elections when they ran door-to-door campaigns. “We used to get into the swing of things some two or three months before the elections. We put flags on our leaders and tried to engage people. But now it appears as if people are not interested at all,” he told a Qatar-based television.

However, a retired government employee entered the ambiguity about elections; he believes that the border tensions are injecting uncertainty over whether elections are going to be held or not.

Chaudhry Mussadiq Ghumman, a PTI candidate in Rawalpindi, said cases against PTI disappointed a large number of voters.

“People used to book us two, three months in advance. This time, we even placed advertisements on the road, but nobody has come,” said Waleed Ashfaq, a guy running a printing business in Lahore.

However, PML-N leaders, including Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif, and Shehbaz Sharif, are running their campaigns in their constituencies. On the other hand, PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also addressed rallies amid election activities.