wfn.org | Pakistani Christians praise plan to end election system they say is unfair

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Note #7032 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

29-January-2002
02043  
  
Pakistani Christians praise plan to end election system they say is unfair  

by Anto Akkara
Ecumenical News International
  
NEW DELHI - Church leaders in Pakistan have hailed the scrapping of electoral rules that they say discriminate against Christians and other religious minorities.  

The Pakistani government announced on Jan.16 that it was abolishing the Separate Election System (SES). Christians have claimed that this system marginalized them and other religious minorities by allowing them to vote only for candidates of their own faith.  

The announcement came as part of a package of measures ahead of general elections scheduled for October.  

"We are no longer second-class citizens. We are now full-fledged citizens of Pakistan," said Bishop Samuel Pervez, president of the National Council of Churches of Pakistan (NCCP), speaking by telephone from the NCCP's offices in Lahore.  

"This has been a long-standing demand of the Christian community. The overwhelming majority of people are happy that the government has conceded to our demand."  

Bishop Pervez said that Christians had "certainly benefited" from the declared determination of Pakistan's president to deal with terrorist and Muslim fundamentalist groups that the president claimed were "exploiting religion for vested interests."  

Two years ago, pressure from Muslim fundamentalists forced President Pervez Musharraf to backtrack on a promise to amend a law on blasphemy against Islam which is strongly criticized by Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan.  

"Now the situation is different," Bishop Pervez said. "These groups have been banned and most of the leaders are behind bars. So there will be no protests this time."  

The SES was first imposed in 1979 under the martial rule of General Muhammad Zia-ul Haq, initially for local elections, but in 1985 it was extended to provincial and national elections.  

Under this system, which has been described as a form of "religious apartheid," 10 seats out of 217 at the National Assembly were reserved for religious minorities - four for Christians, four for Hindus and two for people of other religions. The other 207 seats were reserved for Muslims.  

The decision to scrap the SES was welcomed by other Christian leaders.  

Archbishop Simeon Pereira, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan, told ENI: "Finally, we are now feeling like equal citizens in this country."  

In a statement, the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the bishops' conference said that the initiative "sets a direction for the nation towards human dignity, progress and prosperity."  

Bishop S. K. Dass, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, said that the abolition of the SES, along with other recent measures by the government of President Pervez Musharraf, had come as a "pleasant surprise" to the Christian community.  

About 3 million of Pakistan's population of 140 million are Christian. Approximately 97 per cent of the nation is Muslim.
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