INCREASED POLITICAL VOICE FOR PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS AND OTHER NON-MUSLIMS

PAKISTAN

8 August 2002

President Musharraf of Pakistan has announced the restoration of reserved seats for religious minorities in the National and Provincial assemblies. This will not affect the rights of minorities to vote in the main elections under the previously announced joint electorate scheme and should ensure that Christians and other minority groups have political representation, while still allowing them to have some influence with local candidates from the majority parties.

This decision was announced as part of a package of constitutional amendments that will govern the conduct of the forthcoming general election, scheduled for October 2002. Christians will have four of the ten reserved seats in the National Assembly, with the remaining seats going to Hindu and other minority groups. The separate electorates system was first introduced in 1985. This gave religious minorities their own representation but excluded them from participation in mainstream elections. Initially many Christians were in favour of the system as they felt it would ensure at least some political representation. However, with the new system in place the drawbacks soon became apparent, as the Christian community became politically sidelined, unable to influence mainstream political debate. So the announcement of its replacement by a joint electorate scheme in January 2002 was welcomed by many Christians.

Under existing arrangements the elected ‘majority’ members of the National and Provincial assemblies will act as an electoral college for the reserved seats. However, Christian groups in Pakistan are pressing for a system of dual voting that will enable the minority communities to vote directly for those who will represent them in the reserved seats. They are also demanding reserved seats in the Senate, the upper house of parliament and that the total number of reserved seats be increased in line with population increases.

PRAY

Give thanks that the government of Pakistan has recognised the special situation of Christians and other minority groups in Pakistan and is willing to take account of this in the arrangements for the forthcoming general election. Pray that, however they are chosen, those who occupy the seats reserved for Christians will faithfully represent the interests of Pakistan’s Christian minority in a godly way.

BARNABAS FUND E-MAIL NEWS SERVICE The Barnabas Fund’s e-mail news service provides our supporters with short urgent news briefs and prayer requests for suffering Christians around the world.

Please do share these news items with your Christian friends and churches. All news items are available on our website in a more colourful user-friendly presentation format which you can access, print and pass on.

If you are not already receiving these news briefs directly from the Barnabas Fund and would like to, please contact us with your name, postal and e-mail addresses, and details of the church you attend.

The Barnabas Fund, E-mail Web http://www.barnabasfund.org