IBA elections, 2021, are a game of chicken at this point. What is the game of chicken you ask? The game of chicken is a conflict game in game theory. The game supposes that two drivers are headed towards each other from the opposite direction. Though it would be ideal for one them to yield (chicken-out), the drivers may end up driving into one another. Why? Pride.
What Happened?
As can be seen in the video above, on Monday, 18th of October, the Alumni Student Center at IBA was a battleground. In the white corner we had Mike Tyson – hostel – who always packs a big punch i.e., the magic number of 600, or so I have been told. In the black corner, we had Day Scholars – who is quick on his feet i.e., they know the average everyday politics of the campus. Now, historically, the biggest day-scholar party usually sided with the hostel, with the hostel appointing its CFO and the other party getting the Vice President. The rest of the positions in elections were shared. So what happened? The nuances of this, I can not address in this article so you must wait patiently unlike Dr. Evil.
So what now?
What is being termed as Intiqaam (revenge) for elections on social media, is a grand-day-scholar-alliance i.e., GDA, against the boys hostel. But wait. The reasons cited for this unlikely political alliance are far more complex than that. My well-placed sources suggest that it is an alliance against a few people who have to lead the elected leadership of the hostel this time around.
It is generally stated that hostel-ites are usually not welcomed with open-arms at IBA. They are out-casted and left to figure things out on their own because they lack Karachi-school connections which come in very handy. And this is true. Though I have some wonderful friends at the hostel, I do believe many of them are usually ignored. Why? A lack of previous rapport.
IBA Election and legacy of CFOs
The real contest lies between the position for CFO, as the legacy of the Boys Hostel was challenged by the day scholars. The hostel believes they have to win the CFO elections to walk on campus like normal students at IBA. For them, it is a matter of legacy. In the last 30 years of IBA history, their were only two instances when the hostel lost the CFO position. So the question is why does the CFO position matter so much? Well, the answer is simple. The CFO manages and allocates budgets for all societies which then are used across the year to organize mega-events at IBA.
The game of chicken
Being on friendly terms with both sides, I have realized, things are never black and white. So when you go to vote tomorrow for elections, just vote for the candidate you like. But how is this a game of chicken you ask? Cause politics at IBA has never been about getting the mandate to change things up. It has always been about pride and ego. Maybe times have changed. Or maybe, it is not a game of chicken. Maybe it is a Balinese cock-fight.
Maybe, we are spectators like the people shown above. Maybe, we just wanna support the chicken we like the most. Maybe, one of the owners of the chicken is our friend. Maybe we bet money on a chicken cause why not? Maybe, like sports, we care a lot about which chicken wins. Maybe we do not care at all who wins. But let me just say this, it has never been about the chickens, it has always been about pride in elections. And you and me, we just look at chickens fight, once every year before we head back home.
