The feeling of empowerment is the beauty of democracy. For someone like me, who, by the grace of God, belongs to a privileged background, the feeling of empowerment cannot even begin to compare to that experienced by the street vendor.

Voting in any election is exciting — you're young, you have ideas and oh, so many opinions! What better demonstration of democratic debate than discussing policies, manifestos and ideologies?

I went to cast my first ever vote in the Islamabad local body elections that were just held. And as someone who constantly voices their political opinion, I was very excited about discussing who I had voted for and why.

I had gone against the norm and voted for the PML-N, whereas my mother, Shireen Mazari is a senior party leader of the PTI. I expected the usual stream of abuse, but I didn’t expect my mother to be attacked for raising an independent woman.

I didn't realise how complicated the thought process behind voting in Pakistan was (even though my first experience was only this local body election).

Being young and ambitious, like the rest of the vibrant youth in this country, I found myself struggling to decide who to vote for: not enough choices, major reservations to all key political parties and pressure.

People kept telling me I was over-dramatising such an "insignificant" election.

Also read: Unofficial results — PML-N bags lead in Islamabad LG polls, PTI comes in second

This election was not a general election but it was the first of its kind in Islamabad. Born and bred in this bubble, it matters to me that I make an informed and reasonable decision.

In essence, casting a vote is a political comment — one has to constantly evaluate what it is they're trying to express.

The beauty of democracy is questioning, challenging and participating in vibrant debate, from our very own doorstep all the way to the parliament.

Not everyone will understand your choices but the right to engage in civil discussion is what drives the process of growing and learning from one another.

However, many people in Pakistan have yet to understand that, owing to the lack of democratic development since partition. With time, this too shall change.

The mindset that currently exists is complex and a slightly challenging one to understand.

A contradicting democracy

We have political parties challenging 'dynastic politics', which have been a dominant trend in the region, but these very parties also condemn expression of differing opinions within those families.

This may be because of the cultural norm that it infringes upon, i.e. respecting tradition, following the 'family line'.

Differing opinions in a family are viewed as 'hypocritical' and 'unacceptable', which is in strange contradiction with the fundamental basis of democracy: freedom to choose.

This, too, will change when our generation continues to partake in the process, in accordance with their own, informed ideas and decisions.

As the situation currently stands, you're criticised and abused either way — when I praise my mother's party, I am told to stay out of its affairs and when I criticise it, I am labelled an attention seeker.

Increasingly, it seems to me that I'm being constantly punished for something as basic as expressing my opinion.

The first ever local body elections were taking place in Islamabad, but the media (social, print and television) chose to highlight a few words from my mouth and blow them out of proportion.

Pakistan is yet to reap the benefits of a true, tolerant democracy. But she is young still and we need to let the system operate in order to rectify the faults and make gradual progress.

The election process will always be an opportunity to express, discuss and disagree — it must be our strength rather than a weakness.

People always ask me how I deal with the daily abuse and attacks hurled at me — I’ve been politically active and vocal since I was 12 years old, so with a lot of opinions, from such a young age, comes a lot of backlash.

My faith rests in this nation and its youth — change will come, and it won’t come through any political party but through us.